College Basketball
HONOLULU — Jack Purchase made five 3-pointers and scored 17 points, and Hawaii snapped a four-game losing streak with a 60-46 victory over Southern Mississippi in the seventh-place game of the Diamond Head Classic on Sunday.
Hawaii went on a 10-0 run to stretch its lead to 21 points midway through the second half as Southern Miss went scoreless for five-plus minutes.
Gibson Johnson added 10 points for Hawaii (5-7), which made 10 shots from distance.
Hawaii’s 10-2 spurt late in the first half was capped by Purchase’s third 3-pointer for a 30-20 lead. He scored 11 points in the half as Hawaii held a 32-22 advantage after making 7 of 15 3s.
HONOLULU — Paris Lee scored 18 points, Deontae Hawkins added 16 and Illinois State cruised past Tulsa 68-56 on Sunday for third place in the Diamond Head Classic.
Illinois State (8-4) opened the game on a 16-0 run and Tulsa (6-6) didn’t get on the board until freshman Joseph Battle hit a 3-pointer at the 13:19 mark. The Golden Hurricane’s were just one for their first 11 shots from the field.
Pat Birt made Tulsa’s second basket — also a 3 — with 9:39 left and the Golden Hurricane’s trailed 23-7. Their third make was also from behind the arc but Illinois State answered with a 3 for an 18-point lead and the Redbirds led by double figures until the final minutes of the game.
The Redbirds led by as many as 20 points in the first half and had a 16-point advantage at the break.
HONOLULU — After playing a couple of late-night games, Utah had an early wake-up call Christmas morning.
Not that it needed it.
Utah got off to a hot start and never relinquished it in a 74-66 win over Stephen F. Austin in the fifth-place game of the Diamond Head Classic Sunday.
David Collette scored 17 points on 8-of-8 shooting, JoJo Zamora and Devon Daniels had 16 each and Lorenzo Bonam added 12 for the Utes (9-3), who shot 58.5 percent (24 of 41) from the field.
It was just the second meeting between the schools and the first since Utah beat Stephen F. Austin 57-50 in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
NFL
ARLINGTON, Texas — Matthew Stafford doesn’t dwell on Detroit’s loss to his hometown Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs two years ago.
The Lions quarterback focuses on the good memories as he prepares for another homecoming Monday night, knowing his team can clinch a postseason berth with a victory.
“I really like coming home and playing in Dallas,” Stafford said. “It’s where I grew up. I played a lot of football in the state of Texas and in Dallas in my life. It’s a lot of fun going home, seeing friends and family, but at the same time just trying to win a ballgame against a really good team.”
The Cowboys (12-2) have clinched the NFC East title and home-field advantage in the playoffs. Dallas did it without playing thanks to Philadelphia beating the New York Giants on Thursday.
Detroit (9-5) got a similar boost on Christmas Eve with Tampa Bay’s loss to New Orleans.
The Lions can’t clinch the NFC North. That will have to wait until the finale at home against Green Bay. But they’re in the playoffs for the second time in three seasons under coach Jim Caldwell if they beat Dallas for the third straight time in the regular season.
Associated Press
