– The Minnesota Vikings have fired head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman, according to reports from the AP and others. The Vikings were 8-9 this season and have missed the playoffs the past two years. Zimmer went 72-56-1 in eight seasons, plus 2-3 in the playoffs. The 65-year-old Zimmer had the seventh-longest tenure among NFL head coaches this season. Spielman was with the team since 2006 and general manager since 2012. He led the Vikings to three 10-win seasons, including the 2017 team that went 13-3 and made the NFC championship game.
– Kirk Cousins passed for 172 yards and three touchdowns in the second half to lead a Minnesota Vikings comeback to beat the Chicago Bears 31-17. It was a matchup of two eliminated teams with coaches that were fired the next day. The Vikings finished the season 8-9.
– The Vikings’ Justin Jefferson finished 17 yards short of establishing a franchise single- season record for receiving yardage. Jefferson had five catches for 107 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings in a 31-17 victory over the Chicago Bears. That left him 17 yards short of Randy Moss’ 2003 season, albeit with an extra game. The Vikings got the ball in garbage time but ran the ball once and kneeled down to end the game. Coach Mike Zimmer said he wasn’t concerned about the record.
– Caitlin Clark scored 31 points, McKenna Warnock 23 and Monika Czinano (sin-AHN-o) had eight of her 20 in the pivotal fourth quarter as No. 22 Iowa women’s basketball beat Nebraska 95-86. Clark had 12 assists and grabbed eight rebounds in posting her sixth double-double this season,. Sam Haiby (HY-bee) scored 18 points for Nebraska, Alexis Markowski and Jaz Shelley had 14 points each for the Huskers.
– The Minnesota Timberwolves won their fourth straight last night. Karl-Anthony Towns scored a season-high 40 points, D’Angelo Russell added 22 points and 10 assists and the Wolves beat the Houston Rockets 141-123.
– Trayce Jackson-Davis had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Indiana men’s basketball beat Minnesota 73-60. Five Hoosiers were in double figures. Jamison Battle scored 19 points, Payton Willis 18 and E.J. Stephens 12 for the Gophers.
– Wisconsin men’s basketball blew a 21-point lead to Maryland, but hung on for a 70-69 win last night.
– South Dakota men’s basketball looks to bounce back tonight. They Coyotes face North Dakota in Grand Forks in a make-up game. The contest was originally scheduled for December 30 but was called off due to COVID. A shorthanded USD lost to South Dakota State on Saturday playing with a seven-player rotation. Coverage of tonight’s game starts at 5:30 p.m. with tip-off at 6 p.m. on Q 95.7.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
PHOTO: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports, via Reuters
