Month: February 2026

— St John’s 81, UConn 72
St John’s wins its ninth game in a row.
Loss snaps Huskies’ 18-game winning streak.
Red Storm was 22-31 on foul line, UConn 5-12
Game was 39-39 at halftime. 

— RIP to the great QB Sonny Jurgensen, who passed away this week at age 91; he led the NFL in passing five times in an 18-year career, for the Eagles/Redskins. In his career, Jurgensen threw for 32,224 yards, playing in an era when teams didn’t throw that much. RIP, sir.

One of the first NFL games I remember was in 1966; I was six years old. Washington beat the Giants 72-41…..

Washington ran a punt back for a TD, scored two defensive TD’s
The two kickers were brothers; Pete/Charlie Gogolak. 
Giants outgained Washington 389-341, but had six turnovers.
In a game with 113 points, both teams had 100+ penalty yards.

— There is only one QB in NFL history who is eligible to be voted into the Hall of Fame but isn’t in the HOF, who has won a Super Bowl, and also won an MVP award…….Joe Theismann.

— LA Rams are bringing in Kliff Kingsbury in to be an assistant coach next year, which should help their offense, which is already really good.

— World Baseball Classic will have 36 players who were major league All-Stars last year.

— 38-year old 1B Paul Goldschmidt signed up to go back to the Bronx this season; last year, he hit .274 with a .731 OPS in New York. 

— Way back in 1976, Ted Turner bought the Atlanta Braves for $12M; he sold the Braves in 2007, for $450M. Pretty good deal.

— OF Michael Siani has played in 160 games the last four years, for the Reds/Cardinals. He’s had an interesting off-season:

November 6th- Braves claimed him off waivers.
December 10th- Braves designated him for assignment

December 12th- Dodgers claimed him off waivers.
January 21st- Dodgers designated him for assignment

January 23rd- Bronx claimed him off waivers.
January 28th- Bronx designated him for assignment.

Spring training starts next week……

— Was disappointed to hear that Buck Martinez retired as a TV announcer this week; he was very good on TV, teamed with Dan Schulman on Blue Jays games.

— Famous birthdays, January 7th:
Burt Hooton, 76
Rolf Benirschke, 71
Carney Lansford, 69
James Spader, 66

Rick Neuheisel, 65
Chris Rock, 61
Billy Joe Tolliver, 60
Juwan Howard, 53

Steve Nash, 52
Ashton Kutcher, 48
Matthew Stafford, 38
Shedeur Sanders, 24

— Last week, Portland Pilots had so many players sick, coach Shantay Legans was playing on the scout team during practice; he tore his achilles. Not ideal.

This week has been better for Portland; they upset Gonzaga as 21-point underdogs, ending a 20-game losing streak against the Zags.

— AAC is doing their conference tournament a little different this year; only 10 of their 13 teams will be in the conference tournament.

— Referee DJ Carstensen has officiated 56 games this season; he played college ball at Utica College in the early 80’s, when the Pioneers made a run at becoming a Division I team. Their coach was Larry Costello, who had coached the Milwaukee Bucks when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a rookie.

Back then, I was student manager at Albany, at the time a really good D-3 program; we played Utica every year, but when they went D-I, we didn’t beat them. Carstensen was a good player.

— Chicago Bulls are 24-28 this year, on the bubble for the last playoff spot in the East; they’ve traded away seven players, and brought in seven new players in an almost complete overhaul of their roster.

— Belmont 68, Ill-Chicago 62
Belmont was 13-31 on the arc, Flames were 3-18
Second loss in row for UIC, after an 8-game win streak.
Belmont has won nine a row, leads MVC by two games.

— There is a woman skiing in the Olympics with a torn ACL; didn’t think that was possible, but it obviously is. She is wearing a knee brace, but still, jeez, she must be very, very tough. 

 

— Detroit Tigers signed P Framber Valdez for three years, $115M, the day before they lost their arbitration case with Tarik Skubal, when they only offered him $19M.

Valdez is 81-52, 3.36 in 166 career starts; the last four years, he’s started 121 games, so he’s been durable, but Skubal is 31-10 the last two years, leading the league in ERA both years. Leads you to believe that Detroit might trade Skubal before he hits free agency.

— When it was announced that the Tigers signed Valdez, their over/under win total in Las Vegas for this season jumped from 84.5 to 86.5.

— Speaking of the Tigers, RIP to former Detroit star Mickey Lolich, who passed away this week at age 85. Lolich won 217 games in his 16-year career; he won three games for the Tigers in the 1968 World Series, later won 25 games in 1971.

— San Diego Padres signed OF Miguel Andujar for one year, $4M; he hit .318 last year for the A’s/Reds, with an .822 OPS but that was playing home games in two of the best hitters’ parks/

— Rams-49ers will play a game in Australia next season; Dallas Cowboys will play a game in Brazil; dates won’t be announced until the 2026 schedule comes out in May. Last year the game in Brazil was the Friday night in Week 1.

— There has never been a punt returned for a touchdown in a Super Bowl.

— Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss lost his appeal for an extra year of college eligibility, so he’ll be in April’s NFL Draft. Someone compared him to Russell Wilson, a pretty big compliment.

— Good news for the Philadelphia Eagles:
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will be back next year, for his third season with the Eagles, who ranked 2nd/5th in points allowed the last two years.

Bad news for the Philadelphia Eagles:
Jeff Stoutland quit as the Eagles’ offensive line coach, after 13 years in Philly; Eagles hired a new offensive coordinator, so a coach who helped lead seven players to 26 Pro Bowls and five players to All-Pro honors is walking away from the team.

— Famous birthdays, February 6th:
Mike Farrell, 87
Richie Zisk, 77
Tom Tupa, 60
Kris Humphries, 42
Kevon Looney, 30
Adley Rutschman, 28

— Memphis 90, UAB 80
Sincere Parker scored 40 points in 26:00; he didn’t start.
UAB was only 9-37 on the arc, 21-35 on foul line.
Memphis scored 90+ points in its last three wins.

— West Virginia 59, Cincinnati 54
Bearcats led by 14 early in second half.
WVU has won six of its last nine games; they shot 55.6% inside arc.
Cincinnati is 5-10 in its last 15 games, 1-4 in last five.

— Cal-Davis 85, Cal-Santa Barbara 75
Cal-Davis shot 10-18 on the arc, scored 1.31 ppp.
Loss snaps the Gauchos’ six-game winning streak.
Cal-Irvine leads Hawai’i by a game atop the Big West standings.

— Eastern Kentucky 76, Florida Gulf Coast 74
Eagles led by 21 with 13:28 left in the game.
Colonels snapped a four-game losing skid.
EKU was 20-25 on the foul line, FGCU was 10-13.

— Cal-Fullerton 78, Cal-Riverside 72
Riverside led 15-0 out of the gate, led by 6 with 8:48 left.
Titans were 27-32 on foul line, Riverside was 9-16.
Fullerton is forcing turnovers 22.9% of time in Big West games, best in league.

— Utah Tech 87, Tex-Arlington 84, 2OTs
Utah Tech led by 10 with 13:39 left in the game.
Utah Tech has won four in row; they’re shooting 38.3% on arc in WAC tilts (#1)
Tex-Arlington lost its last two games, both in overtime. 

— Ohio State 82, Maryland 62
Maryland is 8-14, 1-10 and they start three seniors.
Terrapins lost 13 of their last 16 games.
Ohio State is shooting 59.6% inside arc (#13)

— Latest Bracketology:
#1-seeds- Arizona, UConn, Michigan, Duke
#2-seeds- Gonzaga, Houston, Iowa State, Illinois
#3-seeds- Michigan State, Nebraska, Purdue, Kansas
#4-seeds- Vanderbilt, BYU, Texas Tech, Florida

Rough week here at Armadillo World HQ: the recent barrage of cold weather is screwing with our town’s infrastructure.

Some pipes broke under our street, had no water all day Tuesday, which wasn’t good. You take stuff for granted until you don’t have it, was freakin’ happy to hop in the shower Wednesday morning.

— Portland 87, Gonzaga 80
Portland shot 65.8% inside the arc.
Pilots were a 21-point underdog; they’re 4-8 in WCC.
Portland had lost 20 games in a row against Gonzaga.
Zags’ biggest lead the whole game was only two points.

— Minnesota 76, Michigan State 73
Gophers snap a seven-game losing streak.
Minnesota never trailed; they shot 10-21 on the arc.
Spartans out-rebounded Minnesota, 39-23

— Alabama 100, Texas A&M 97
Alabama was 16-48 on arc, 22-32 on foul line, scored 1.28 ppp.
Just second loss in last 12 games for Texas A&M
This season, 54% of Alabama’s shot have been 3’s; no team that has taken more 3’s than 2’s has ever won the national title.

— Oklahoma State 99, BYU 92
BYU is 1-4 in last five games, after a 16-1 start.
OSU was 22-34 on foul line, BYU 13-17.
Cowboys shot 65.1% inside the arc; game was 41-41 at halftime.

— East Tennessee State 75, Furman 71 OT
Furman led by 15 early in second half.
Paladins had 21 turnovers, ETSU had nine.
Buccaneers now lead SoCon with a 9-2 mark.

— Clemson 66, Stanford 64
Stanford led by six early in second half.
Clemson was 17-22 on foul line, Cardinal 7-9
Tigers improve to 19-4, 9-1 in ACC games.

— Tulsa 78, FAU 76
Florida Atlantic led 32-25 at halftime.
Tulsa has won seven in row, is 20-3, 8-2 in AAC
FAU has lost four in row, after starting 6-1 in AAC.

— Big night for underdogs in the Horizon League:
Youngstown State (+3.5) 90, Fort Wayne 61
Cleveland State (+7.5) 91, Oakland 78
Robert Morris (+2.5) 72, Wright State 66
Green Bay (+7.5) 87, Northern Kentucky 84 OT
Detroit (+6.5) 76, Milwaukee 63

— Utah State 86, New Mexico 66
Aggies shot 65.5% inside the arc.
Utah State shot 11-31 on the arc, Lobos 3-13
Utah State/San Diego State are tied for first in Mountain West, game ahead of New Mexico. 

— Famous birthdays, February 5th:
Roger Staubach, 84
Michael Mann, 83
Craig Morton, 83
Vic Correll, 80

Barbara Hershey, 78
Mike Heath, 71
Laura Linney, 62
Roberto Alomar, 58

Terrence Ross, 35
Nick Lodolo, 28
Cam Schlittler, 25
Cam Skattebo, 24

The great Henry Aaron was born 92 years ago Thursday.

— Former Bears’ coach Matt Nagy is the Giants’ new offensive coordinator; Nagy was with the Chiefs the last four years. Nagy was 34-33 as an NFL head coach.

— Former Colts/Panthers’ coach Frank Reich is the Jets’ new offensive coordinator; Reich was interim coach at Stanford this past season. Reich was 42-45-1 as an NFL head coach.

— No team owners should get into a pro Hall of Fame, unless they also coached. Hall of Fames should be reserved for players, coaches, general managers, the people who help win/lose games.

— Movie of the Day: The Bodyguard (1992)- A former Secret Service agent becomes a bodyguard for a famous singer, whose lifestyle is most unlike a politician’s.

Kevin Costner is the bodyguard, Whitney Houston is the singer. This is a very good movie. 

— Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitching ace Paul Skenes had a 1.97 ERA last year, a 0.95 WHIP, but the Pirates were only 17-15 in his starts. Go figure. 

— Arizona Diamondbacks signed 1B Carlos Santana for one year, $2M; Santana has played for eight years in his 16-year career. He only hit .219 last year, in 124 games for Guardians/Cubs.

— There was a 3-team trade in baseball the other day, with Brendan Donovan moving from the Cardinals to Seattle; last seven times there was a three-way trade in baseball, Tampa Bay Rays were involved six times. Not really sure why; may have something to do with the Rays being willing to give up an additional competitive balance pick in the deal.

— Cleveland Cavaliers traded Darius Garland and a 2nd-round draft pick for James Harden; Garland just turned 26; he was scoring 18 points/game for the Cavaliers, and over the next three years, he’ll make $42M/year. Good move for the future for the Clippers. Seeing how Harden is 36 years old.

— James Harden’s career path:
2009-12- Oklahoma City
2012-21- Houston
2021-22- Brooklyn
2022-23- Philadelphia
2023-26- LA Clippers
2026-??- Cleveland

A sportsbook in Las Vegas put out its menu of Super Bowl prop bets; it is 53 pages full of bets. Here is a sampling of some of the things you can bet on:

— Total for the first half: 21.5 points.

— Total touchdowns scored in the game: 5.5 touchdowns

— Coin toss: Heads or tails? (Yes, people bet on that)

— Team to score first in the game.

— Team to score last in the game.

— Which team will use a replay challenge first?

— Highest scoring quarter by both teams: over/under 19.5

— Longest touchdown scored: over/under 36.5 yards

— Will either team score in the first 6:30 of the game?

— Total number of sacks in the game: over/under 5.5

— Total completions by Sam Darnold: 20.5

— Total receiving yards by Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 95.5

— Longest reception by Cooper Kupp: 15.5 yards

— Total rushing yards by Kenneth Walker: 75.5 yards

— Longest gross punt by Michael Dickson: 55.5 yards

— Total first downs by the Seahawks: 19.5

— Total yards by both teams: 637.5 yards

— Famous birthdays, February 4th:
John Schuck, 86
Steve O’Neal, 80
Keith Krepfle, 74
Lawrence Taylor, 67
Dan Plesac, 64

Gabrielle Anwar, 56
Rob Corddry, 55
Ramiel Tapia, 32
George Kirby, 28
RJ Harvey, 25

— Total passing yards by Drake Maye: 224.5 yards

— Total receiving yards by Stefan Diggs: 46.5 yards

— Longest reception by Kayshon Boutte: 17.5 yards

— Total rushing yards by Rhamondre Stevenson: 49.5 yards

— Shortest gross punt for Bryce Baringer: 39.5 yards

— Total first downs by the Patriots: 19.5

— Who will complete more passes, Darnold or Maye?

— Who will make a field goal first?

— Jersey number of the first player to score a touchdown? Over/under 11.5

— Who will win the game?

That is a small sampling of the things you can bet on Sunday. 

— Good news for me and all Rams fans; the team re-signed coach Sean McVay, GM Les Snead to multi-year contract extensions. Since 2017, the Rams have a 92-57 regular-season record, which is the fifth best in the NFL; under McVay, they’re 10-6 in playoff games, 1-1 in Super Bowls.

— St Louis Cardinals traded 2B Brendan Donovan to Seattle Monday, in a 3-way trade:

Mariners get 2B Brendan Donovan

Tampa Bay gets 3B Ben Williamson

Cardinals get:
P Jurrangelo Clijnte (throws lefty and righty)

OF’s Tai Peete, Colton Ledbetter
Competitive balance Round B pick

— Some insurance companies won’t insure ballplayers who are scheduled to play in next month’s World Baseball Classic, so they aren’t going to play.

As many as eight players eligible to play for Puerto Rico haven’t been approved for insurance, including Francisco Lindor, and Puerto Rico is hosting some of the early round games.

Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa also won’t be playing in the WBC. Shohei Ohtani will be a DH, but he won’t be pitching.

— If you have a pitcher from the San Francisco Giants on your fantasy team, are you queasy that the right side of the Giants infield is going to be Rafael Devers/Luis Arraez? 

Very good hitters, shaky in the field.

— There are 28 days in February; this year was the first time since 2015 that February 1st was a Sunday, so on a regular calendar, the month fits perfectly into four rows.

This won’t happen again until 2037.

— Famous birthdays, February 3rd:
Fran Tarkenton, 86
Blythe Danner, 83
Bob Griese, 81
Bake McBride, 77
Morgan Fairchild, 76

Fred Lynn, 74
Maura Tierney, 61
Vlade Divac, 58
Skip Schumaker, 46
Tyler Huntley, 28

— International NFL games next fall:
3 games in London
One game in Australia
One game in Brazil
One game in Germany
One game in Spain

— Before this season, Seahawks were 50-1 to win the Super Bowl, Patriots 80-1.

— Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn retired from coaching Monday, ending his 35-year coaching career. Malzahn was 105-62 as a head coach at three schools. Florida State led the ACC in total offense this past season.

— In the NBA, 76ers star Paul George was suspended 25 games for taking ‘improper medication’ whatever that means. George misses out on $469,691.72 for each of the 25 games he will miss, a total loss of $11,742,293. Yikes.

— NBA players who have played for the most teams:
13- Ish Smith
12- Chucky Brown
Jim Jackson
Tony Massenburg
Joe Smith.

— Movie of the Day: Groundhog Day (1993)- A TV weatherman from Pittsburgh is sent to cover Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA for the fourth year in a row; he isn’t happy about it, and makes no effort to hide it. He and his two co-workers get stuck because in Punxsutawney because of a snowstorm.

This is where it gets strange; when the weatherman wakes up the next day, it is Groundhog Day again, and he lives the same day, over and over, for the rest of the movie. 

I hadn’t seen this movie for probably 25 years; it is legitimately strange, but there are parts that are funny. Bill Murray is the weatherman, Andie McDowell/Chris Elliott are his co-workers.

— Since 2004, Gonzaga is 44-5 SU in the WCC Tournament. 

Last four years, NC-Greensboro was 48-24 in Southern Conference games, which is really good, but SoCon is a one-bid league, and in those four years, UNCG is 0-4 in the SoCon tournament.

No bueno.

— Last weekend. there was a boxing card at Madison Square Garden; in one of the bouts, a guy got punched so hard that his hairpiece popped upward from the front, revealing a large bald spot that covered most of his head.

Why was he wearing a hairpiece?
What were the odds that this would happen, and the guy would still win his fight? (He did)

— RIP to Catherine O’Hara, 71, a terrific actress who passed away over the weekend; she was part of the great TV show Second City TV, was the mom in Home Alone, and won an Emmy for her role in the TV show Schitt’s Creek. RIP, ma’am

— OF Austin Hays signed on with the White Sox for one year, $6M; last year, Hays hit .266 with a .765 OPS in 103 games with Cincinnati.

— The tractor trailer loaded with baseball equipment took off for Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers Monday; pitchers and catchers report a week from today. On the truck……

20,400 baseballs
200 batting gloves
200 batting helmets
1,100 bats
20 cases of bubble gum
60 cases of sunflower seeds

Spring training can’t start soon enough. 

— All the NFL’s head coaching vacancies have been filled; Arizona Cardinals hired Mike LaFleur as their new head coach- he had been offensive coordinator with the Rams. LaFleur’s brother Matt is the head coach in Green Bay- he hired ex-Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon as the Packers’ new DC last week.

— This signals that after the Super Bowl, Las Vegas Raiders will hire Seattle OC as its new coach; Klint Kubiak is the son of former Broncos’ QB/coach Gary Kubiak. Raiders interviewed 15 guys for this job.

— San Francisco 49ers hired former Falcons coach Raheem Morris as their new DC; Morris was DC for the Rams when they won the Super Bowl four years ago, now he is an assistant for their arch-rival. Morris will be the 49ers’ fifth DC in five years, after Robert Saleh left to become the head coach in Tennessee.

— Buffalo Bills hired Jim Leonhard as their new DC; Leonhard had been working as an assistant in Denver. He coached for several years in college, after a 10-year playing career in the NFL.

— In the last 11 Super Bowls where the spread was more than four points, the underdog was 10-1 against the spread. Right now, Seattle is favored by 4.5 points next Sunday.

— I know very little about business, but apparently the NFL now owns 10% of ESPN; in return, ESPN gets NFL Network, NFL Fantasy and the rights to distribute the RedZone channel to cable and satellite operators. Viewers are not expected to notice changes on NFL Network until April.

— San Francisco Giants signed IF Luis Arraez for one year, $12M; he is expected to play second base for the Giants. Arraez won a batting title three of last four years, but last year, he slumped to .292, with a .719 OPS.

— Cincinnati Reds signed 3B/DH Eugenio Suarez for one year, $15M; he is expected to mostly DH for the Reds, a team he hit 49 home runs for in 2019. Suarez homered 49 times last year for Arizona/Seattle, hitting .228.

— Famous birthdays, February 2nd:
Wayne Fontes, 86
Dave Casper, 74
John Tudor, 72
Pat Tabler, 68
Sean Elliott, 58

Scott Erickson, 58
Shakira Ripoli, 49
Matthew Boyd, 35
Adrian Houser, 33
Josh Lowe, 28

— Former Maryland coach Mark Turgeon will be the new coach at Kansas City next year; Turgeon played/coached at Kansas- he led Maryland to five NCAA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 run in 2016.

Last four years, Kangaroos are 22-37 in Summit League games

— Illinois 78, Nebraska 69
Nebraska led 39-33 at halftime.
Illini was 21-26 on foul line, Cornhuskers 4-5.
Second top 5 loss in row for Nebraska, after a 20-0 start.

— Florida 100, Alabama 77
Gators shot 56.9% inside arc, led 46-36 at halftime.
Alabama is 3-4 in its last seven games; they were out-rebounded, 44-33.

53.2% of Alabama’s shots this year have been 3-pointers; no team that won the national title has ever taken more than half their shots behind the arc.

— Tulsa 93, Wichita State 83
Tulsa shot 71.4% inside the arc.
Golden Hurricanes have won six in row, are 19-3, 7-2 in AAC play.
Tulsa is shooting 40.8% on the arc (#4 in country).

— Tulane 78, Memphis 76
Tulane snaps 5-game skid; they led by 15 midway thru first half
Memphis out-rebounded the Green Wave, 40-25.
Memphis is 10-11 this year, 5-4 in the AAC.

— Eastern Carolina 76, FAU 75
Florida Atlantic led by 12 midway thru first half.
Jordan Riley scored 35 points, had 9 rebounds, 5 assists.
Owls have lost three in row, after starting AAC play 6-1.

— Cleveland State 90, Milwaukee 88
Cleveland State led by 12 with 10:56 left, hung on for the win.
Vikings shot 70% inside the arc, scored 1.29 ppp.
Cleveland State has won four in row, after starting season 5-14.

— Colorado 87, TCU 61
Colorado shot 11-23 on arc, scored 1.32 ppp.
Win snapped Buffaloes’ six-game losing streak.
TCU has lost six of its last eight games. 

— Indiana 98, UCLA 97, 2OTs
Hoosiers led by 10 with 1:50 left in regulation.
Indiana shot 11-34 on the arc, 17-32 inside the arc.
6-10 senior Bailey scored 24 points in 28:00 off the bench.

— Kansas 90, BYU 82
Jayhawks shot 61.8% inside arc; they led 53-33 at halftime.
Freshman Peterson scored 18 points in 20:00, but didn’t play in last 16:00
Third loss in four games for BYU, after a 16-1 start.

— Kentucky 85, Arkansas 77
Kentucky has won six of its last seven games.
Wildcats got three technical fouls in a 0:39 span of 2nd half.
Arkansas led by 4 with 11:28 left in the game.

— Gonzaga 73, Saint Mary’s 65
Gaels led 38-34 at halftime.
Saint Mary’s had won 25 games in a row when they led at halftime.
Gonzaga has won 15 straight games; Graham Ike scored 30 points.

— Louisville 88, SMU 74
SMU led 19-7 early in the game.
Louisville outscored Mustangs 44-27 in second half.
Cardinals shot 75% inside arc.
Louisville was 16-23 on foul line, SMU 6-9

— Upsets of the Day:
Fordham (+11.5) 79, George Washington 65
California (+10.5) 86, Miami 85
Central Michigan (+8.5) 62, Bowling Green 59
Kentucky (+7.5) 85, Arkansas 77

Campbell (+7.5) 104, Wm & Mary 96
Western Kentucky (+7.5) 65, Middle Tennessee 60
Appalachian State (+7.5) 66, Troy 44
Southern Utah (+6.5) 79, Abilene Christian 76

— Central Florida 88, Texas Tech 80
UCF won its last three games, scoring 87.3 ppg.
Knights are shooting 38.2% on the arc (#18)
Tech lost despite scoring 76.9% inside the arc.

— Utah State 71, San Diego State 66
Aztecs led by 11 late in the first half.
Brickfest; teams combined to shoot 12-50 on the arc.
Both teams are now 9-2 in the Mountain West

— Xavier 68, DePaul 66
DePaul led by 16 with 10:01 left in the games.
Xavier was 16-19 on foul line, Blue Demons 0-1
Just third win in last nine games for the Musketeers.

— California 86, Miami 85
Miami led by 11 with 8:49 left in the game.
6-3 soph Pippen had 17 points, 8 assists.
Miami lost despite shooting 64.1% inside the arc.

— Famous birthdays, February 1st:
Dick Snyder, 82
Billy Mumy, 72
Mike Horan, 67

Wade Wilson, 67
Linus Roache, 62
Kent Mercker, 58

Brett Anderson, 38
Sean Manaea, 34
Jazz Chisholm, 28

— Miami OH 85, Northern Illinois 61
RedHawks are 22-0, 10-0 in the MAC, but against schedule #337.
NIU led this game by 5 with 15:00 left to play.
Miami shot 66.7% inside the arc.

— Arizona 87, Arizona State 74
Game was 38-38 at halftime.
Wildcats out-rebounded ASU, 47-32.
Arizona is 19-4 in its last 23 games against the Sun Devils.

— Illinois-Chicago 68, Southern Illinois 66
Salukis led by 18 early in the second half.
UIC out-rebounded Southern Illinois 44-24.
Flames have won eight games in a row, after a 5-10 start.

— George Mason 77, St Bonaventure 73
Bonnies led by 14 with 8:50 left in the game.
George Mason shot 74.3% inside the arc; they’re 20-2.
Patriots’ subs outscored St Bonaventure’s bench, 31-5

— College basketball ref Doug Sirmons has been busy the last week:
January 23- Ohio State @ Michigan
January 24- Maryland @ Michigan State
January 27- Purdue @ Indiana
January 28- Houston @ TCU
January 29- Colorado @ Iowa State
January 30- Dayton @ Saint Louis
January 31- BYU @ Kansas