Alcorn State hires McNair
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Alcorn State has named Fred McNair as its next football coach, promoting him after four seasons as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach.
The 47-year-old McNair is the older brother of the late Steve McNair, who played quarterback in the NFL for 13 seasons. Both brothers played quarterback at Alcorn State.
McNair replaces Jay Hopson, who led the Braves to back-to-back Southwestern Athletic Conference titles over the past two seasons before taking the Southern Mississippi job on Saturday.
McNair was quickly named the interim coach and promoted on a full-time basis just a few days later. He was introduced Monday at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, saying “just being able to come back and be the leader of this football program means a lot to me.”
USA?to host qualifier on March 29
CHICAGO (AP) – The second leg of the United States’ Olympic men’s soccer qualifying playoff against Colombia will be played on March 29 at Frisco, Texas.
The home-and-home, total-goals playoff opens March 25 at Barranquilla, Colombia, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Tuesday.
Seeking its first berth in the men’s Olympic tournament since 2008, the U.S. was forced into the playoff when it lost to Honduras last October in the semifinals of qualifying in the North and Central American and Caribbean region. Olympic men’s qualifying is limited to players born on or after Jan. 1, 1993.
The March 29 match will be part of a television doubleheader on ESPN2, with the Olympic playoff following the Americans’ World Cup qualifier against Guatemala at Columbus, Ohio.
NHL?sets make-up dates
NEW YORK (AP) – The NHL has rescheduled three games that were postponed because of the recent snowstorm on the East Coast.
The Pittsburgh at Washington game will take place March 1.
The other two games – Anaheim at Washington and Philadelphia at the New York Islanders – have been reset for April 10 to end the regular season.
Kings have a promo problem
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The Sacramento Kings canceled a Lunar New Year promotional giveaway after DeMarcus Cousins complained it was insensitive on the first day of Black History Month.
The Kings were set to give away T-shirts commemorating the Chinese Year of the Monkey, which starts on Feb. 8, at the team’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night. The shirts sported the image of a purple monkey.
But according to a Facebook post, Bucks analyst and former player Marques Johnson said Cousins was discussing the matter with Kings employees before fans arrived for the game. Johnson agreed that the T-shirts could be construed as offensive.
The T-shirts were removed from the seats and Kings President Chris Granger told the Sacramento Bee that the team did not want to offend anyone and acted as soon as Cousins voiced his concern.
South Side clocks Northgate
PITTSBURGH – South Side knocked off Northgate 90-53 on Tuesday in WPIAL basketball action.
South Side improves to 10-10 and 6-7 in its section.
South Side was led by David Wilson’s season-high 28 points, Quae Thompson 20 points and Jake McDougal 14 points.
South Side hosts Aliquippa on Friday.
Crosby has three for Pens
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sidney Crosby is back to doing Sidney Crosby things. The Pittsburgh Penguins are winning.
It’s hardly a coincidence.
Crosby scored three straight goals for his first natural hat trick in more than five years, and the Penguins opened the second half of the season with a rollicking 6-5 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
The two-time NHL MVP boosted his goal total to 20 and has scored in each of Pittsburgh’s last eight home games. The Penguins have won four straight and lost just once in regulation since Jan. 6.
Suddenly, Pittsburgh’s muddled start feels like a long time ago. Crosby has 11 goals since Jan. 1, most in the NHL.
“There are nights where you feel like you have a ton of chances and it doesn’t go in and to get them in bunches is nice, especially a game like this where it’s high scoring and you pretty much know that the last goal is going to win it,” Crosby said.
Chris Kunitz had a goal and two assists. Kris Letang added a goal and an assist, and Matt Cullen also scored for Pittsburgh. The Penguins’ six goals were a season high.
Marc-Andre Fleury settled down after a shaky start and finished with 18 saves.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Mark Stone, Cody Ceci, Chris Wideman and Dave Dziurzynski scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson made 38 stops while spending most of the night dealing with a swarm of black jerseys directly in front of him.
“Anderson was excellent tonight,” Ottawa coach Dave Cameron said. “We hung him out to dry.”
The Penguins headed into the All-Star break stressing the need to maintain the intensity they showed during a 6-2-3 January surge that moved them back into playoff position. The run was fueled by a streaking Crosby, who has taken to heart new coach Mike Sullivan’s advice to get to the front of the net.
Crosby tied for the NHL lead with eight goals in January and wasted little time getting back to work following an All-Star snub, one he likely deserved after a sluggish opening three months of the season. His three scores against the Senators came from close range, including a pair from right on the doorstep.
“I think he’s doing the same things; he’s going to the right areas and the puck is going in,” Kunitz said. “The confidence thing obviously for everybody on the ice when he gets going, gets everybody going.”
The hat trick was the ninth of Crosby’s career and first since Oct. 12, 2013, against Tampa Bay. It was his first natural hat trick since doing it against the Atlanta Thrashers on Dec. 2, 2010.
Pittsburgh dominated the Senators for long stretches, taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Cullen and Letang before Ottawa recorded its first shot, but a shaky performance by the typically solid Fleury allowed the Senators to get back in it.
Ottawa ripped off three straight goals to jump in front 4-3, including a pair in a 24-second span of the second period with both teams playing 4-on-4. Pageau tipped in Erik Karlsson’s rebound. Shortly thereafter, Fleury was unable to freeze a rebound from Zack Smith, and Ceci darted in to poke the puck between Fleury’s pads and put the Senators up 3:25 into the second.
The 403rd consecutive sellout crowd at Consol Energy Center let out a sarcastic roar when Fleury managed to stop Ottawa’s next rush, his two shutouts last month apparently a distant memory.
Fleury finally settled down, giving Crosby and Pittsburgh’s scorching power play a chance to go to work. Crosby tied it at 4 with a wrist shot from the left circle 6:10 into the second and gave the Penguins the lead for good just more than 10 minutes later when he parked himself in front and had little trouble pushing a perfect centering pass from Evgeni Malkin by Anderson.
Crosby increased Pittsburgh’s advantage to 6-4 early in the third period, converting what looked like a potential turnover by Kunitz into a goal when he sprinted to the crease and redirected the puck into the net.
The Penguins needed the cushion. Dziurzynski’s first goal with 4:10 to go brought Ottawa within one, and twice the Senators clanged shots off the crossbar.
“Tonight was just crazy bounces,” Crosby said. “You feel for a goalie when he’s going through that and you want to get him the win, you want to find a way to win it. He’s bailed us so many times.”
NOTES: Penguins forward Eric Fehr left late in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return. … Pittsburgh assistant coach Jacques Martin was not on the bench after feeling ill shortly before the game. … Ottawa begins a three-game homestand on Thursday against Edmonton. The Penguins play at Florida on Friday. … Pittsburgh went 2 for 5 on the power play. The Senators were 0 for 1.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
