1/8/24 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Monday
8 January 2024 Sports
Jordan Love accomplished something in his first season as a starting quarterback that his four-time MVP predecessor failed to achieve last year.
He has the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs, set for a Sunday showdown with the Dallas Cowboys at 3:30 PM on FOX
Love threw for 316 yards and connected with Dontayvion Wicks on a pair of touchdowns as the Packers earned a wild-card berth with a 17-9 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
The Packers bounced back from a 2-5 start by winning seven of their last 10 games, including three straight.
The Packers (9-8) needed a win to reach the playoffs. Green Bay delivered by beating the Bears (7-10) for a 10th consecutive time.
Green Bay was in a similar situation for its regular-season finale last year, but lost 20-16 at home to the Detroit Lions in Aaron Rodgers’ last game with the Packers. The Packers traded Rodgers to the New York Jets less than four months later to make way for Love, a 2020 first-round draft pick from Utah State.
Love guided the NFL’s youngest team to the postseason by throwing 18 touchdown passes and one interception over his last eight games.
Green Bay is the NFC’s No. 7 seed and will visit NFC East champion Dallas (12-5) in a matchup with Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, who guided the Packers from 2006-18 and led them to their last Super Bowl title.
Love went 27 of 32 as Green Bay never punted all day. Love threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Wicks that put Green Bay ahead for good midway through the second quarter and found the rookie fifth-round pick in the end zone again for a 12-yard score in the third.
Jayden Reed caught four passes for 112 yards. Wicks had six catches for 61 yards to go with his two touchdowns. Bo Melton had five receptions for 62 yards less than a week after the Packers signed him to their active roster from the practice squad. Chicago now heads into the offseason facing a major question about its quarterback situation. The Bears have the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft and must decide whether to keep Justin Fields or select his potential replacement. Fields went 11 of 16 for 148 yards on Sunday, but he couldn’t get the Bears into the end zone. He was sacked five times and had eight carries for 27 yards.
The Bears reached Packers territory on each of their six series, but had only nine points to show for it.
Cairo Santos capped the game’s first series with a 50-yard field goal that bounced off the left upright before going through. Santos also had a 39-yarder late in the second quarter and a 35-yarder early in the fourth.
The Bears got inside Green Bay’s 35 midway through the fourth quarter, but a holding penalty and a sack caused the drive to stall and forced a punt. Green Bay took over at its own 6 with 6:08 left and held the ball the rest of the game.
Elsewhere in the NFC North the Lions won at home over the Vikings 30-20.
In Sunday Night Football Buffalo held on at Miami to win 21-14.
The NFL playoff pairings in the Wild Card Round are as follows.
Saturday January 13th
The Browns (11-6) at the Texans (10-7) at 3:30
The Dolphins (11-6) at the Chiefs (11-6) at 7:00.
Sunday January 14th
The Steelers (10-7) at the Bills 11-6) at 12:00
The Packers (9-8) at the Cowboys (11-5) at 3:30
The Rams (10-7 at the Lions (12-5) at 7:00
Monday January 15th
The Eagles (11-6) at the Buccaneers (9-8) at 7:00
In the NBA tonight the Bucks (25-11) host the Jazz (17-20). Milwaukee is second in the Eastern Conference, 3 ½ games behind the Celtics. Utah is in 12th place in the Western Conference. Tipoff is at 7:00.
Tyler Wahl scored 17 points to lead five Wisconsin players in double figures and the 21st-ranked Badgers beat Nebraska 88-72 on Saturday to snap the Cornhuskers’ five-game winning streak.
Wisconsin (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten) has won four straight and 10 of 11.
Chucky Hepburn had 13 points, Connor Essegian scored 12 and AJ Storr and John Blackwell scored 10 each as the Badgers never trailed. Wisconsin shot 55% from the floor and went 13 of 26 from beyond the arc while posting its highest 3-point basket total of the season.
Keisei Tominaga had 17 points, Rienk Mast scored 16 and Brice Williams scored 10 for Nebraska (12-3, 2-2). Williams was helped off the floor after appearing to hurt his ankle late in the second half.
Wisconsin’s depth made a big difference. The Badgers had a 36-18 edge in bench scoring.
Essegian led the bench production by making the most of an early opportunity and going 4 of 7 on 3-point attempts.
After scoring 11.7 points per game as a freshman last season to rank third on the team, Essegian struggled with a back injury early this season and saw his playing time drop dramatically. Four days after playing just 21 seconds in an 83-72 victory over Iowa, Essegian came off the bench less than eight minutes into Saturday’s game and immediately made an impact with his shooting.
This is Wisconsin’s second straight 3-0 start in Big Ten competition. Last year, the Badgers went 6-11 the rest of the way in the Big Ten and ended up in the NIT. This year’s team is deeper and therefore seems more capable of avoiding a late-season fade. But the 3-point outburst Saturday was surprising. Wisconsin had gone just 8 of 31 from 3-point range over its last two games and was making just 32.4% of its 3-point attempts this season.
Wisconsin is at Ohio State on Wednesday.
Also on Saturday, Ripon College beat RV Illinois College 77-75. Luke Meinholz led Red Hawks with 27 points, while Cade Tackmier scored 23 and Kolby Williams chipped in with 17. Ripon improved to 3-11 and are 1-4 in the conference.
The Red Hawks are at Lake Forest College Tuesday with the tipoff at 5:30.
Elsewhere UW-Oshkosh lost at home to UW-Stout, 92-85. Michael Metcalf-Grassman led the Titans with 18 points as Oshkosh drops to 7-6 on the season and 0-2 in the conference. Oshkosh is at UW-Platteville Wednesday with the tipoff at 7:00.
In women’s college basketball Saturday, Ripon College won on the road at Illinois Collge 70-65. Bella Opelt led Ripon with 18 points while Ella Ten Pas scored 15 and Bonnie Jensen had 13. Ripon improves to 8-6 overall and 5-0 in the confernce and plays next at Lake Forest College on Tuesday with the tipoff at 7:30.
Elsewhere, the UW-Oshkosh women won at UW-Stout 63-58. Bridget Froehlke led 4 Titans in double figures with 16 points as Oshkosh improved to 10-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
The Titan women play at UW-Platteville Wednesday night with the tipoff at 7:00.
The Milwaukee Bucks lost at Houston to the Rockets Saturday 112-108 despite 48 points and 17 rebounds from Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Rockets had 7 players score in double figures led by Alpean Sengun’s 21 points.
Milwuakee (25-11) is in second place in the Eastern Conference, 3 ½ games behind the Boston Celtics. Milwaukee hosts the Utah Jazz on Monday.
The Wisconsin Herd, NBA G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks, beat the Greensboro Swarm 97-84, to complete a two-game sweep of the Swarm. The Herd beat Greensboro 124-111 Friday night.
Ty Ty Washington Jr. led all scorers Saturday with 22 points while Wenyen Gabriel and Chris Livingston added a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds each.
The Greensboro Swarm’s top scorer was Jaylen Sims with 21 points followed by Amari Bailey with 19 points.
Boys and Girls Basketball 1/8
Boys:
Berlin at North Fond du Lac
Sturgeon Bay at Green Bay East
Southern Door at Denmark
Valley Christian at Princeton/Green Lake
Girls:
Verona at Beaver Dam
Messmer at Mayville
Freedom at Amherst
Menominee (MI) at Marinette
Mishicot at Luxemburg-Casco
Mauston at Portage
Westfield at Tomah
Randolph at Poynette
Fall River at St. Mary Catholic
The Wisconsin Herd, NBA G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks, will host the Wisconsin Herd Card Show in partnership with Cardboard Legacy on January 13, 2024 at Oshkosh Arena. The Wisconsin Herd Card Show in partnership with Cardboard Legacy will take place on January 13, 2024, from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM at Oshkosh Arena, 1212 S Main St, Oshkosh WI. At the event, there will be over 60 dealer tables as well as an enter-to-win sweepstakes for a Wisconsin Herd team-signed basketball and a 2023 Bowman Baseball Draft Jumbo Hobby Box valued at $400. Admission and parking will be free for the event. For table information, contact Nic Malouf at 920-744-0241 or nic.malouf@wisconsinherd.com.
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