The Chapel Hill Thrill

February 10, 2020

By: Jeff Yoder

Good Morning,

Four game-winners and one missed goaltending produced an exciting weekend on the court. There were broken records in the octagon and on the pitch. Plus, the Mookie Betts trade is finalized (four days later) and I’m still processing what I just witnessed in the XFL. Reply and let me know your thoughts on Week 1 (more tomorrow).

Letter Rip!

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NCAAM

The Chapel Hill Thrill

#7 Duke def. UNC (98-96, OT) in 100th Season Anniversary

College Basketball’s premier rivalry game (1 of 2) took the sports world by storm on Saturday night with a must-see finish in the 100-year anniversary of the first Duke-UNC matchup. With North Carolina on pace for one of the worst seasons in program history, a win against 7th-ranked Duke was a consolation prize, until it wasn’t. UNC blew a 13-point second-half lead, and the Blue Devils made a five-point comeback in the final 50 seconds to force overtime on Tre Jones’ buzzer-beater. In OT, it was another five-point comeback (final 20 seconds) and a tip-in by Wendell Moore as time expired. Ecstasy for the Blue Devils. Heartbreak for the Tar Heels. The Tobacco Road Rivalry lived up to the billing…

Highlights | Read More (SB Nation)

Other College Hoops Highlights

– Knight’s Return to IU: Purdue spoiled a celebration 20 years in the making on Saturday by taking down Indiana (74-62). Legendary head coach Bob Knight returned to IU for the first time since being fired in 2000. (USA Today)

– Self Secures No. 700: #3 Kansas beat TCU on Saturday to notch head coach Bill Self’s 700th career victory. The win made Self (57) the second-youngest coach to 700 wins behind only Bob Knight (56).  (SI)

– Aztecs’ Perfect Season: 4th-ranked San Diego State beat Air Force on Saturday (89-74) for their 24th win of the year. The lone unbeaten in college hoops has five games to go in order to log a perfect season. (ESPN)

Bonus: #11 Auburn Beats #18 LSU with OT Buzzer Beater (NCAA: Video)

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NBA

Dame’s Goaltending Fiasco

Blazers Lose to Jazz on Missed Call (117-114)

The good news? Damian Lillard’s Blazers beat the Heat on Sunday (115-109), but they’re still fuming over Friday’s controversial loss to Utah. Lillard had a game-tying layup erased by Rudy Gobert’s block — a costly goaltending no-call for Portland in a tight Western Conference race. Lillard was irate after dropping 42 points and walking away empty-handed. He followed it up with 33 points in a win on Friday, but the Blazers (25-29) are currently two games out of the playoffs. Read More (CBS Sports)

Other NBA Highlights

• Bogey at the Buzzer: The Jazz (mentioned above) were double winners this weekend after Bojan Bogdanovic hit one of the craziest game-winners in recent memory. Utah stunned the Rockets (114-113). (B/R)
• No. 14 for Toronto: The Raptors’ win streak is now at a ridiculous 14 games after they beat the Nets on a game-tying free throw from Pascal Siakam (119-118). Fred VanVleet is emerging as a star, scoring 20-plus in six of the last 14 games. (USA Today)
• LeBron’s Kobe Tribute Dunk: LeBron James had a dunk late last week that grew more and more viral into the weekend — a two-handed reverse windmill that mirrored a Kobe Bryant slam. (ESPN)

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SOCCER

Ronaldo’s 10th Straight

Juve Striker Breaks Club Record

Make it 10 straight games with a goal for Cristiano Ronaldo. The 35-year-old Juventus striker found the net again on Saturday for a club record goal streak. Juventus lost to Verona in an upset, 2-1, but Ronaldo is now closing in on the Italian League (Serie A) record held by Gabriel Bautista (11).

Highlights | Read More (NBC Sports)

Other Soccer Highlights

– USWNT Locks Up Olympics: The USWNT punched their ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a 4-0 win against Mexico on Saturday in the CONCACAF olympic qualifiers. Rose Lavelle, Sam Mewis (2), and Christen Press found the net. (ESPN)

– Inter Wins Milan Derby: The first Inter Milan vs. AC Milan matchup of 2020 featured two new superstars in Romelo Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and both found the net. Inter were the victors on Sunday (4-2) with four unanswered goals in the second half. (Serie A)

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UFC

‘Bones’ Retains the Belt

Jon ‘Bones’ Jones def. Dominick Reyes by Unanimous (Controversial) Decision

It wasn’t easy, but Jon ‘Bones’ Jones remains the light heavyweight champ. Saturday’s fight in Houston began with the challenger Reyes sending Jones to the canvas early in what appeared to be an upset in the making. In the end, Rounds 3-5 belonged to the champ resulting in a unanimous decision by the judges, although a controversial one.

Jones improves to 26-1 as the light heavyweight champion with the only defeat coming via disqualification back in 2009. He also holds the most light heavyweight victories of all-time and the longest active win streak in UFC (17).

Highlights | Read More (B/R)

Yahoo! Sports: Even Dana White Thinks Reyes Defeated Jones

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OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

🏒 NHL: Lightning Strike Again
The Tampa Bay Lightning won their league-best sixth straight game on Saturday against the Islanders (3-1) behind Andrei Vasilevskiy’s 17 saves. The Lightning goaltender extended his point streak to a record-setting 18th game. (NHL)

⛳️ PGA: Taylor Takes Pebble Beach
Canadian golfer Nick Taylor claimed his second PGA Tour victory at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a wire-to-wire win (Thursday to Sunday). The 31-year-old finished 19-under, outlasting Kevin Streelman (-15), Phil Mickelson (-14) and Jason Day (-11) on Sunday. (PGA Tour)

🏈 XFL: Week 1 Highlights
Opening week in the XFL filled a void for football fans less than one week after the Super Bowl. Clink the link for a recap of Week 1 where Houston, D.C., New York and St. Louis were winners. (CBS Sports)

🏀 NCAAW: Lackluster Louisville
The 5th-ranked Louisville women’s team suffered back-to-back losses in the last four days, including an eight-point defeat to #17 Florida State (67-59) last Thursday and a crushing upset to unranked Syracuse on Sunday (59-51). (ACCN)

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HEADLINES

Dodgers & Red Sox Finally Complete New Version of Mookie Betts Trade
(Yahoo! Sports)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Wins Pole for Daytona 500
(ESPN)

Jennifer King Becomes First Full-Time African-American Female Coach in NFL
(Sports Illustrated)

Larry the Cable Guy Submits Contender for Golf Shot of the Year at Pebble Beach
(CBS Sports)

Ricky Walker Gets First XFL Ejection After Throwing Punch on Opening Weekend
(USA Today)

Darren Collison to Remain Retired Amid Interest From Lakers & Clippers
(Bleacher Report)

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