KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs could have two important parts of their offense back with guard Joe Thuney and wide receiver Kadarius Toney returning to practice Wednesday ahead of their trip to Denver. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said that everyone would practice in their first workout since blowing a late lead in Sunday’s loss in Cincinnati. That includes Thuney, who did not play because of an ankle injury, and Toney, who was coming off his most productive game with Kansas City when a hamstring injury sidelined him most of the past three games. There's also a chance that Melvin Gordon, who was signed to Kansas City's practice squad, could face his former team Sunday in Denver.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos are hoping to snap not only a four-game losing streak but a much longer one that goes back seven seasons. The Broncos have lost 13 straight games against AFC West rival Kansas City. The Chiefs are 9-3 and visit the 3-9 Broncos on Sunday. Broncos rookie coach Nathaniel Hackett says he's not concerned about his team's past and safety Justin Simmons says he too is focused on the present. The game was moved from prime time to the afternoon because it's not the featured matchup it appeared to be when the schedule came out.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills’ top pass-rusher Von Miller will miss the remainder of the season after having surgery to repair an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Coach Sean McDermott says the ligament damage was discovered during a previously scheduled exploratory surgery, which was conducted on Tuesday in Texas. Miller has missed one game since being hurt in the first half of a 28-25 win over Detroit on Thanksgiving. The Bills placed Miller on injured reserve last week with the expectation he would be able to return after initial tests showed no damage to the player’s ACL.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Coach Sean McVay says Baker Mayfield probably will be active for the Los Angeles Rams’ game against the Raiders on Thursday night. That's just two days after the Rams claimed the former No. 1 draft pick off waivers from Carolina. McVay wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Mayfield playing against Las Vegas, but the Rams coach indicated it likely would happen only if John Wolford’s persistent neck injury forces struggling Los Angeles to try a desperate solution to its quarterback woes. Mayfield arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday night to join the Rams.
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Pop Isaacs scored 24 points, shooting 5 for 6 from 3-point range, and Kevin Obanor scored 20 and Texas Tech managed to overcome Nicholls late for a 78-71 win. Caleb Huffman’s layup with 8:47 left gave the Colonels a 60-48 lead. But the Red Raiders outscored Nicholls 22-9 over the next seven minutes and took a 70-69 lead with 1:51 left on Obanor’s layup. Texas Tech made all eight of its final foul shots to seal it. Caleb Huffman scored 22 points for Nicholls.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Tre Mitchell scored 19 points to lead West Virginia to an 85-64 win over Navy on Wednesday night. Erik Stevenson added 13 points, Joe Toussaint 12 and Kedrian Johnson 11 for the Mountaineers. Freshman Austin Benigni scored 20 points to lead Navy, which fell to 1-4 on the road. Leading scorer Tyler Nelson was held to six points, nine below his average. Navy trimmed an 18-point deficit to 54-49 with 14:18 left in the game. But West Virginia pushed the lead back to double digits to stay on 3-pointers in the span of just over a minute by Johnson, Toussaint and Mitchell.
MANHATAN, Kan. (AP) — Emilee Ebert scored 14 points and ran her streak of free throw makes to 32, and No. 24 Kansas State cruised to a 72-45 win over UMKC. The Wildcats scored the last six points of the first half for a 39-24 lead and had the first 13 of the second to make it 50-24. Ebert had six of those 19. The Mavericks went scoreless for 7:36 and without a field goal for almost 10 minutes. Kansas State outscored UMKC 25-7 in the third quarter as the Mavericks went 2 of 7 with 14 turnovers. Jocelyn Ewell led UMKC with 14 points.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Caitlin Clark scored 19 points and Monika Czinano added 18 points and 10 rebounds as No. 16 Iowa defeated No. 10 Iowa State 70-57. Kate Martin added 13 points for the Hawkeyes, who have won six of the last seven games in the rivalry and are 7-3 overall. Ashley Joens had 15 points for the Cyclones, who are 6-2.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres and Xander Bogaerts have agreed to a blockbuster $280 million, 11-year contract, adding the All-Star slugger to an already deep lineup. A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the contract to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it was pending a physical. The Padres already had Fernando Tatis Jr. at shortstop, but he missed the entire season because of injuries and an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Bogaerts is a .292 hitter with 156 homers and 683 RBIs in 10 big league seasons — all with Boston.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Aaron Judge has agreed to return to the New York Yankees on a $360 million, nine-year contract. It's the largest free agent deal in baseball history. Judge will earn $40 million per season, the highest average annual payout for a position player. The contract trails only Mike Trout’s $426.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels and Mookie Betts’ $365 million pact with the Los Angeles Dodgers for biggest in baseball history.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Willson Contreras is going to St. Louis to replace Yadier Molina at catcher, agreeing to an $87.5 million, five-year contract with the Cardinals. A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the move to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical. The addition of Contreras fills a major void for St. Louis, which won the NL Central this season with a 93-69 record. Molina decided to retire after spending his entire 19-year career with the Cardinals, making 10 All-Star teams and winning nine Gold Gloves.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The United States men’s soccer team recedes into the background of American sports for the next 3 1/2 years. The team’s four World Cup matches averaged 12.2 million viewers on Fox but its 27 games on rated English-language networks from the start of 2020 through this fall averaged 668,000. That is according to Nielsen. The U.S. team averaged 2.45 million during the World Cup on Telemundo. That is double its 1.02 million average for 40 matches on Spanish-language networks during the three years ahead of the tournament. That compares with the NFL's average of 17.1 million for the 2021 regular season.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Sports programs across the county are weighing whether tough coaching styles still have a place in the athletic world. The styles once embodied by legends such as Bear Bryant and Bobby Knight have fallen out of favor at a time when student-athletes demand more sensitive treatment and more individualized training. Athletes of this younger generation also possess greater personal power over their career paths, which sometimes forces coaches to accommodate them or risk losing top talent.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (4)Purdue 85 Hofstra 66
Final (5)UConn 75 Florida 54
Final (7)Tennessee 84 E. Kentucky 49
Final (14)Indiana 81 Nebraska 65
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final OT Orlando 116 L.A. Clippers 111
Final Brooklyn 122 Charlotte 116
Final Toronto 126 L.A. Lakers 113
Final New York 113 Atlanta 89
Final Memphis 123 Oklahoma City 102
Final Milwaukee 126 Sacramento 113
Final New Orleans 104 Detroit 98
Final Chicago 115 Washington 111
Final Minnesota 121 Indiana 115
Final Utah 124 Golden State 123
Final Boston 125 Phoenix 98
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Washington 4 Philadelphia 1
Final Buffalo 9 Columbus 4
Final Calgary 5 Minnesota 3
Final Boston 4 Colorado 0
Final Edmonton 8 Arizona 2
Final N-Y Rangers 5 Vegas 1
Final OT Vancouver 6 San Jose 5