JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars are seemingly narrowing their coaching search. The Jaguars announced Monday they have scheduled in-person interviews with three of their 10 initial candidates: Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen, Las Vegas defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and former New York Jets coach Robert Saleh. All three are slated to be in Jacksonville this week to meet face-to-face with owner Shad Khan, general manager Trent Baalke and others. Coen was scheduled to interview Wednesday, with Graham going the following day and Saleh on Friday. The Jags lost out on Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who agreed to become Chicago’s head coach Monday, and appear to be out on Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Glenn reportedly has in-person interviews scheduled with New Orleans and the New York Jets.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Kings honored firefighters and first responders in the first game back in their downtown arena since the catastrophic wildfires that devastated large parts of Los Angeles. The Kings were scheduled to face Calgary on Jan. 8, but that game was postponed due to the fires. Los Angeles then played its next five games on the road before returning home. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Kings wore LAFD caps during pregame warmups. Firefighters and first responders from various departments in the region were honored at center ice before the game. The Kings replaced their traditional logo at center ice with a graphic paying tribute to the Los Angeles Fire Department. “To see the guys out there and the gals, it was humbling. I don’t know. I just felt that way,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said about the ceremony. “I felt a little emotional. I just felt like those people have been out there doing some pretty amazing things that we just saw a little bit from a long distance. And we’re in our own little bubble doing what we have to do. It brought it to life for me, pretty personal, and it’s just disappointing we couldn’t do more with it.”
A wild week of upsets and court stormings led to a massive shakeup in the AP Top 25. One constant: Auburn. The Tigers were the unanimous pick at No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll released on Monday, holding on to the top spot following a week in which 19 ranked teams lost at least once — including seven teams in the top 10. Auburn claimed the program’s second No. 1 ranking last week and won both its games despite playing without injured big man Johni Broome. The Tigers rolled over No. 14 Mississippi State 88-66 and survived a late comeback to beat then-No. 19 Georgia 70-68. No. 2 Duke moved up a spot after winning both of its games last week and swapped places with No. 3 Iowa State, which blew out No. 12 Kansas but lost to No. 23 West Virginia. Alabama and Florida rounded out the top five despite each losing a game last week. Only three teams — Alabama, Florida and No. 6 Tennessee — held the same spot from a week ago. The chaotic week allowed No. 8 Michigan State to move into the top 10 for the first time this season and No. 22 Missouri into the poll for the first time since 2022-23.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka’s bid for a third consecutive Australian Open championship will continue after she got past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a surprisingly difficult quarterfinal Tuesday night. The No. 1-ranked Sabalenka has now won 19 matches in a row at Melbourne Park and will face her good friend, No. 11 seed Paula Badosa, in the semifinals Thursday. Sabalenka had run her set streak to 25 at the place — dating all the way to the 2023 final — when she grabbed the opener against 2021 French Open runner-up Pavlyuchenkova. But Sabalenka had a hard time harnessing her intimidating strokes on a windy evening in Rod Laver Arena until doing so down the stretch and collecting the last three games after the third set was tied at 3-all.
MONDAY SCORES
HOISINGTON CARDINAL WINTER JAM QUARTERFINALS
Girls
No. 2 Minneapolis 56, No. 7 Victoria 37
No. 4 Pratt 55, No. 5 La Crosse 33
Boys
No. 1 Pratt 46, No. 8 Minneapolis 33
No. 4 Victoria 60, No. 5 Otis-Bison 35
ST. JOHN MID-WINTER CLASSIC QUARTERFINALS
Boys
No. 1 Central Plains 51, No. 8 Nickerson 35
No. 2 Macksville 64, No. 7 Cimarron 57
Girls
No. 1 Little River 79, No. 8 Nickerson 16
No. 2 Central Plains 39, No. 7 Cimarron 25