THURSDAY SPORTS, JANUARY 15, 2025
MITCHELL KERNELS
— Mitchell Kernels basketball will be at Brookings on Friday night for a doubleheader starting with the girls game at 6 pm, followed by the boys at 7:30 pm. Coverage starts with the KORNer Booth pregame show at 5 pm.
— Mitchell Kernels gymnastics travels to the Huron Invitational on Friday at 5:30 pm.
— Mitchell Kernels girls wrestling is back on the mats at the Harrisburg Invitational on Friday, then both the Mitchell boys and girls will host the Jerry Opbroek Invitational at 9 a.m. on Saturday, at the high school gym. On the boys side, Mitchell’s Blaze Sevigny is ranked third the Dakota Grappler’s Class A 106 pounds rankings. Noah Bennett is also third at 132 pounds, while Rocky Clark is fourth at heavyweight.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN
— No. 9 Dakota Wesleyan women’s basketball won its eighth straight game with a 97-35 win over Waldorf at the Corn Palace on Wednesday night. The Tigers shot nearly 66% in the first half and led 52–16 at halftime, thanks to a 28–2 run in the second quarter. Emma Yost led DWU with 20 points, while Maleighya Estes added a season-high 14 off the bench. Twelve Tigers scored as DWU scored a season-high 97 points. The Tigers are now 14–4 overall,10–2 in the GPAC and host 10th-ranked Concordia on Sunday at 2 p.m.
— Dakota Wesleyan men’s basketball pulled away in the second half to beat Waldorf 83–70 on Wednesday night at the Corn Palace. After Waldorf cut a 12-point halftime deficit down to three early in the half, the Tigers responded with a 24-to-8 run. Steele Morgan led the way with 22 points, while Anthony Riggans added 18 and Easton Neuendorf chipped in 17. All five DWU starters scored in double figures. The Tigers are now 10-9 overall on the season and are set to host Concordia on Sunday at 3:45 pm.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
— North Dakota State held the South Dakota State men to 35% shooting in the first half en route to a 76-65 victory for the Bison on Wednesday. SDSU missed its first eight field goal attempts of the game and trailed by 12 points at halftime. Jaden Jackson led four Jackrabbits in double figures with 16 points and eight rebounds. SDSU falls to 9-10 on the season and will host Kansas City on Saturday afternoon at 4:15 pm.
— South Dakota State women’s basketball host Denver on Thursday at 7 pm. The Jackrabbits enter the week with a 3-0 Summit League record and knocked down a school record 19 3-pointers vs. Oral Roberts last weekend, in a 103-76 victory. SDSU has won 66 straight Summit League regular season games, including nine straight vs. Denver.
— South Dakota State wrestling will be at Utah Valley on Friday night at 8 pm CST.
SOUTH DAKOTA
— USD women’s basketball shook off a slow start and rolled past North Dakota 62–39 on Wednesday night in Vermillion. UND led 8–6 after the first quarter, but USD would outscore the Fighting Hawks 22–3 in the second quarter. Molly Joyce led the Coyotes for her fourth straight game with 20 points, while Angelina Robles added 15. USD’s defense forced 24 turnovers and held North Dakota to just one made three-pointer. The Coyotes improve to 13-5 overall and 3-1 in Summit League play as they host Denver on Saturday at 1 pm.
— USD men’s basketball host Kansas City on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Coyotes are 9-9 on the season, but have an 8-2 record at home.
🏀 43rd Annual Hanson Girls Classic – Corn Palace, Saturday, January 17
10:00 AM Hanson vs. Woodbury Central (IA)
11:30 AM No. 9B Sanborn Central/Woonsocket vs. Elk Point-Jefferson
1:00 PM Corsica-Stickney vs. No. 6B Harding County – Q107.3
2:30 PM No. 1B Lyman vs. No. 10A Mobridge-Pollock
4:00 PM St. Thomas More vs. No. 7A Dakota Valley
5:30 PM No. 5A Wagner vs. No. 3A Hamlin – Q107.3
7:00 PM No. 2B Parkston vs. No. 4B Ethan – Q107.3
8:30 PM No. 1A Mahpíya Lúta vs. No. 2A Lennox
NFL
— Former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is expected to become the New York Giants’ next head coach. The deal is not yet finalized, but negotiations are continuing. Harbaugh was fired last week after 18 seasons with Baltimore, where he won a Super Bowl and nearly 200 games. The Giants have gone just 7-27 the past two seasons.
MLB
— Left-hander Ranger Suárez and the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a $130 million, five-year contract. A 30-year-old who became an All-Star in 2024, Suárez spent his first eight major league seasons with Philadelphia. He was 12-8 with a 3.20 ERA last year. Suárez has 53 career major league wins with a 3.38 ERA in 119 starts and 68 relief appearances.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
— Oregon quarterback Dante Moore is staying in college. The Ducks’ star announced on ESPN that he’s returning for the 2026 season, turning down a chance to be a top pick in this year’s NFL Draft and tens of millions in guaranteed money. Moore says he wants more experience and another shot at a national title. He threw for more than 3,500 yards and 30 touchdowns last season, leading Oregon to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
— Some of college football’s biggest names are headed to the Hall of Fame. Mark Ingram, Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Donald headline the 2026 College Football Hall of Fame class. Ingram was Alabama’s first Heisman winner, while Suh and Donald were two of the most dominant defensive linemen of their generation. The group will be officially inducted this December in Las Vegas.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
— The transfer portal for men’s and women’s basketball will open the day after the championship game for both NCAA Tournaments for a period of 15 days. The NCAA Division I Cabinet approved changes Wednesday to the window for athletes to transfer in several sports including men’s wrestling, men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s track and field under changes recommended by the oversight committees for each sport. The changes are effective immediately. The transfer period after a head coaching change starts five days after a new coach is hired or publicly announced. That window opens on the 31st day if the new head coach is not announced within 30 days of the last coach’s departure.
— The NCAA sent a letter asking federal regulators to suspend prediction markets for college sports. The prediction markets are trading sites that allow users to bet on outcomes of games. NCAA President Charlie Baker sent the letter to the chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, urging him to suspend the markets “until a more robust system with appropriate safeguards is in place.” The platforms are legal because they’re classified as financial trading platforms, not gambling websites.
WORLD CUP
— FIFA says it has received over 500 million ticket requests for this year’s World Cup. Outside the host countries, the most requests come from Germany, England, and Brazil. FIFA is asking for up to $8,600 per ticket. After criticism, FIFA announced $60 tickets for every game, available through national federations. The most-requested match in the recent sales phase was Colombia vs. Portugal on June 27 in Miami. FIFA plans to notify applicants about their tickets no earlier than February 5, with random allocation for high-demand matches.
NFL DIVISIONAL ROUND
Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills – Saturday at 3:30 pm on CBS
Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers – Saturday at 7 pm on FOX
New England Patriots vs. Houston/Pittsburgh – Sunday at 2 pm on ABC/ESPN
Chicago Bears vs. Los Angeles Rams – Sunday at 5:30 pm on NBC
NBA
— Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic made a tiebreaking layup with four seconds remaining as the Bulls overcame Brice Sensabaugh’s career-high 43 points to beat the Utah Jazz 128-126. Vucevic scored 35 points to lead the Bulls. Sensabaugh scored 21 in the first quarter for Utah, the most by a player off the bench in the quarter since play-by-play tracking for all four quarters began in 1996.
— Donovan Mitchell had 35 points and nine assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 133-107.
— Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points as the Los Angeles Clippers extended their winning streak to four games with a 119-105 victory over the Washington Wizards.
— DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points to move into 22nd place on the NBA’s career scoring list as the Sacramento Kings beat the New York Knicks 112-101. Mikal Bridges scored 19 points for the Knicks, who played most of the night without PG Jalen Brunson. Brunson injured his right ankle and limped off the floor after scoring four points in five minutes.
— Jamal Murray scored 33 points as the Denver Nuggets held on for a 118-109 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, who were without Cooper Flagg for the second half after the rookie No. 1 overall pick sprained his left ankle.
— Toronto’s Brandon Ingram scored 30 points and Scottie Barnes had 26 points and 13 assists as the Raptors defeat the Indiana Pacers 115-101. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL – THURSDAY
Wagner vs. Parkston (DH)
Parker/Marion vs. Hanson (DH)
Tripp-Delmont/Armour vs. Platte-Geddes (DH)
Freeman vs. Bon Homme (DH)
Kimball/White Lake vs. Gregory (DH)
Winner vs. Corsica-Stickney (girls)
Sioux Valley vs. McCook Central/Montrose (girls)
No. 9 Sanborn Central/Woonsocket vs. James Valley Christian (girls)
Mitchell Christian vs. Andes Central/Dakota Christian (boys)
No. 1 Brandon Valley vs. Harrisburg (girls)
SF Jefferson vs. No. 5 Tea Area (girls)
COLLEGE BASKETBALL – WEDNESDAY
No. 5 Purdue 79, Iowa 72
Texas 80, No. 10 Vanderbilt 64 – First loss of the season for Vanderbilt.
No. 1 Arizona 89, Arizona State 82 – Arizona improves to 17-0 on the season.
No. 4 Michigan 82, Washington 72
No. 6 Duke 71, California 56
No. 11 BYU 76, TCU 70
Stanford 95, No. 14 North Carolina 90
Ole Miss 97, No. 21 Georgia 95 (OT)