MIAMI (AP) — New Michigan coach Juwan Howard is off to a fast start after leading the Wolverines to a Battle 4 Atlantis championship. Howard’s Wolverines earned top-10 wins against North Carolina and Gonzaga to claim the title in the Bahamas. Now his Wolverines are preparing for a trip to No. 2 Louisville.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State expects to see a tougher Wisconsin team in the Big Ten championship game. The Buckeyes beat the Badgers five weeks ago in the regular season. Since then, Wisconsin won its last four games, capping it with a 38-7 rout of Minnesota. That puts the Badgers in the conference title game on Saturday against the undefeated Buckeyes, who seem to be marching with a purpose toward the College Football Playoff.
UNDATED (AP) — Greg Schiano is coming back to Rutgers. Athletic director Pat Hobbs announced that the university and Schiano reached a contract agreement a week after talks to bring back the 53-year-old former football coach fell apart. The contract still must be approved by the schools’ board of governors. It is scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss the hiring. Schiano was coach at Rutgers from 2001-11. The Scarlet Knights went to a bowl game in six of his final seven seasons.
UNDATED (AP) — Alabama dropped to No. 9 in The Associated Press college football poll, snapping the Crimson Tide’s record streak of 68 appearances in the top five. The top four teams in the AP Top 25 were unchanged, with LSU at No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Clemson and Georgia. Utah moved up to No. 5, followed by Oklahoma, Florida and Baylor. The four-spot drop by Alabama broke a string of top-five appearances that began Nov. 8, 2015. Wisconsin moved up three spots to No. 10 after routing Minnesota.
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) — Kansas’ Udoka Azubuike and Michigan’s Jon Teske had MVP performances during Thanksgiving-week tournaments to remind the country not to overlook experienced big men amid all the attention on high-flying wings and sharp-shooting guards. Azubuike helped the fourth-ranked Jayhawks win the Maui Invitational, while Teske helped the Wolverines win the Battle 4 Atlantis. The week included big outings from Dayton’s Obi Toppin, Georgia’s Anthony Edwards and fifth-ranked Maryland’s defense.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 22 points and backcourt mate Darryl Morsell helped fifth-ranked Maryland limit Marquette star Markus Howard to six points as the Terrapins beat the Golden Eagles 84-63 in the championship game of the Orlando Invitational. Howard scored 91 points in his first two games of the eight-team tournament at Disney World. However, Marquette’s all-time scoring leader was just 1 of 12 from the field in this one. At 8-0, Maryland is off to its best start since the 2006-07 season.
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Sonya Morris’ short jumper in the final minute lifted No. 16 DePaul to a 70-68 victory over Northwestern, handing the Wildcats their first loss and giving Doug Bruno his 700th victory as the Blue Demons’ coach. Northwestern’s Veronica Burton missed a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left then Morris scored on the other end for a 69-68 lead.
ESTERO, Fla. (AP) — Melody Kempton had a career-high 18 points, LeeAnne Wirth and Jessie Loera each scored 12, and No. 22 Gonzaga beat Purdue 63-50 to win the Gulf Coast Showcase. Kempton made 7 of 12 from the field and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line.