KFIZ Sports Scoreboard : 12/26/19

NBA: 

Philadelphia 121, Milwaukee 109

–Khris Middleton scored 31 points to lead the Bucks, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the red-hot 76ers on Christmas Day in what ended up being only the Bucks’ fifth loss of the season. Giannis Antetokounmpo posted another double-double, with 18 points and 16 rebounds – but was held to just 8 of 27 shooting, including 0-for-7 on three point attempts. Philly made 21 three pointers in the game – led by Tobias Harris with five. Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 31 points and 11 rebounds. The Bucks are back in action Friday night in Atlanta.

College Football: 

Oddsmakers have the Wisconsin Badgers as a three-point favorite in the Rose Bowl game which is under a week away. The Oregon Ducks won the Pac-12 title by beating Utah 37-15 earlier this month. The Ducks are ranked seventh and the Badgers 11th, but Wisconsin is still given the edge.  If running back Jonathan Taylor gains 91 yards he will have his third straight season of two-thousand rushing yards. Taylor will try to accomplish that feat against an Oregon defense that has been good against the run. The Ducks defense has given up just three-point-two yards-a-carry – one of the best marks in the country. 

The bowl season resumes today with two games – the Independence Bowl, with Louisiana Tech facing Miami of Florida and the Quick Lane Bowl, which has Pittsburgh squaring off with Eastern Michigan. 

NFL: 

In the NFC, it’s a battle to the finish with both home-field advantage throughout and both first-round byes yet to be decided. The Green Bay Packers, New Orleans, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks all have a chance at a bye and home-field advantage under numerous playoff scenarios released Tuesday by the NFL.Green Bay (12-3) and San Francisco (12-3) need only win Sunday to clinch first-round byes with the 49ers able to clinch home-field advantage throughout by winning in Seattle on Sunday night. Green Bay needs to beat Detroit combined with a 49ers’ loss to ensure the Packers don’t leave Lambeau Field until the Super Bowl.

 

Former Wisconsin Badger J-J Watt is defying the medical experts and returned to practice with the Houston Texans. The All-Pro defensive lineman says he expects to be on the field when the Texans reach the playoffs, but that he still has to see how practice goes. Doctors expected him to be out with a torn pectoral muscle for three-to-four months. Now, it looks like he’ll be scaring quarterbacks after just two months on the sidelines. Before he was injured, Watt was leading the N-F-L in pressures and quarterback hits.