1-2-22 roundup: Pro football and basketball, College football, High school basketball
By Richard Walker
Charlotte had a tough professional sports start to the new year as the NFL Carolina Panthers and the NBA Charlotte Hornets both suffered disappointing losses on Sunday.
In the 54th day the teams have played on the same day, Charlotte teams were swept for the 23rd time – and third time this season – as the Panthers couldn’t hold an early lead in an 18-10 loss at New Orleans and the Hornets were routed 133-99 by Phoenix.
Pro football
After a fast start, the Carolina Panthers’ offense with Sam Darnold back at starting quarterback ground to a halt as New Orleans rallied for an 18-10 home victory.
Starting for the first time since Nov. 7, Darnold directed the Panthers to 10 points and 132 yards on the team’s first two days – including a 5-yard run by backup quarterback Cam Newton on his only play of the game – before New Orleans stifled the Carolina offense.
The Saints, which kept its NFL playoff hopes alive, limited the Panthers to 46 yards the rest of the game and sack Darnold seven times for 42 yards.
New Orleans had four field goals, first taking the lead at 12-10 late in the third quarter, before scoring its first touchdown in 11 quarters.
Darnold completed his first nine passes and Chuba Hubbard scored on a 21-yard run as the Panthers took a 10-3 lead with 13:09 left in the first half.
Carolina head coach Matt Rhule, who has repeatedly pushed the team to use its rushing offense more, fell to 10-22 overall as Panthers’ head coach, including 3-20 in games in which Carolina has less than 30 rushing attempts.
With the loss, the Panthers clinched fourth place in the NFC South this season, which wrapped up their opponents for the 2022 season.
Carolina will have nine home games in 2022 – against divisional rivals Atlanta, New Orleans and Tampa Bay, NFC West rivals Arizona and San Francisco, AFC North rivals Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Detroit of the NFC North and Denver of the AFC West.
The Panthers will have eight road games in 2022 — against divisional rivals Atlanta, New Orleans and Tampa Bay, NFC West rivals the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle, AFC North rivals Baltimore and Cincinnati and the New York Giants of the NFC East.
Here is the Carolina Panthers’ 2021 schedule (with results):
Sept. 12 New York Jets (W 19-14)
Sept. 19 New Orleans (W 26-7)
Sept. 23 at Houston (W 24-9)
Oct. 3 at Dallas (L 28-36)
Oct. 10 Philadelphia (L 18-21)
Oct. 17 Minnesota (L 28-34, OT)
Oct. 24 at New York Giants (L 3-25)
Oct. 31 at Atlanta (W 19-13)
Nov. 7 New England (L 6-24)
Nov. 14 at Arizona (W 34-10)
Nov. 21 Washington (L 21-27)
Nov. 28 at Miami (L 10-33)
Dec. 5 BYE WEEK
Dec. 12 Atlanta (L 21-29)
Dec. 19 at Buffalo (L 14-31)
Dec. 26 Tampa Bay (L 6-32)
Jan. 2 at New Orleans (L 10-18)
Jan. 9 at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m
Pro baskeball
The Phoenix Suns routed the Charlotte Hornets from the outset, building as much as a 43-point lead before taking a 133-99 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 19,088 at the Spectrum Center.
Devin Booker (24 points), Chris Paul (7 points, 16 assists) and former Hornet Bismack Biyombo (11 points, 6 rebounds) led Phoenix (28-8).
Charlotte (19-18) was led by LaMelo Ball’s 17 points and missed 26 of 35 3-pointers, including 19 of 24 after the first quarter.
Here is the Charlotte Hornets’ full regular season schedule (with results):
OCTOBER
Wed. 20 INDIANA (W 123-122)
Fri. 22 at Cleveland (W 123-112)
Sun. 24 at Brooklyn (W 111-95)
Mon. 25 BOSTON (L 129-140, OT)
Wed. 27 at Orlando (W 120-111)
Fri. 29 at Miami (L 99-114)
Sun. 31 PORTLAND (W 125-113)
NOVEMBER
Mon. 1 CLEVELAND (L 110-113)
Wed. 3 at Golden State (L 92-114)
Fri. 5 at Sacramento (L 110-140)
Sun. 7 at LA Clippers (L 106-120)
Mon. 8 at L.A. Lakers (L 123-126, OT)
Wed. 10 at Memphis (W 118-108)
Fri. 12 NEW YORK (W 104-96)
Sun. 14 GOLDEN STATE (W 106-102)
Wed. 17 WASHINGTON (W 97-87)
Fri. 19 INDIANA (W 121-118)
Sat. 20 at Atlanta (L 105-115)
Mon. 22 at Washington (W 109-103)
Wed. 24 at Orlando (W 108-99)
Fri. 26 MINNESOTA (W 133-115)
Sat. 27 at Houston (L 143-146, OT)
Mon. 29 at Chicago (L 119-133)
DECEMBER
Wed. 1 at Milwaukee (L 125-127)
Sun. 5 at Atlanta (W 130-127)
Mon. 6 PHILADELPHIA (L 124-127, OT)
Wed. 8 PHILADELPHIA (L 106-110)
Fri. 10 SACRAMENTO (W 124-123)
Mon. 13 at Dallas (L 96-120)
Wed. 15 at San Antonio (W 131-115)
Fri. 17 at Portland (L 116-125)
Sun. 19 at Phoenix (L 106-137)
Mon. 20 at Utah (L 102-112)
Thu. 23 at Denver (W 115-107)
Mon. 27 HOUSTON (W 123-99)
Wed. 29 at Indiana (W 116-108)
JANUARY
Sun. 2 PHOENIX (L 99-133)
Mon. 3 at Washington 7:00
Wed. 5 DETROIT 7:00
Sat. 8 MILWAUKEE 7:00
Mon. 10 MILWAUKEE 7:00
Wed. 12 at Philadelphia 7:00
Fri. 14 ORLANDO 7:00
Mon. 17 at New York 1:00
Wed. 19 at Boston 7:30
Fri. 21 OKLAHOMA CITY 7:00
Sun. 23 ATLANTA 7:00
Tue. 25 at Toronto 7:00
Wed. 26 at Indiana 7:00
Fri. 28 L.A. LAKERS 7:00
Sun. 30 LA CLIPPERS 1:00
FEBRUARY
Wed. 2 at Boston 7:30
Fri. 4 CLEVELAND 7:00
Sat. 5 MIAMI 7:00
Mon. 7 TORONTO 7:00
Wed. 9 CHICAGO 7:30
Fri. 11 at Detroit 7:00
Sat. 12 MEMPHIS 7:00
Tue. 15 at Minnesota 8:00
Thu. 17 MIAMI 7:00
Fri. 25 TORONTO 7:00
Sun. 27 DETROIT 7:00
Mon. 28 at Milwaukee 8:00
MARCH
Wed. 2 at Cleveland 7:00
Sat. 5 SAN ANTONIO 7:00
Tue. 8 BROOKLYN 7:00
Wed. 9 BOSTON 7:00
Fri. 11 at New Orleans 8:00
Mon. 14 at Oklahoma City 8:00
Wed. 16 ATLANTA 7:00
Sat. 19 DALLAS 7:00
Mon. 21 NEW ORLEANS 7:00
Wed. 23 NEW YORK 7:00
Fri. 25 UTAH 7:00
Sun. 27 at Brooklyn 7:30
Mon. 28 DENVER 7:00
Wed. 30 at New York 7:30
APRIL
Sat. 2 at Philadelphia 12:30
Tue. 5 at Miami 7:30
Thu. 7 ORLANDO 7:00
Fri. 8 at Chicago 8:00
Sun. 10 WASHINGTON TBD
College football
After Saturday’s games, here are the records of each major college conference in bowl games so far:
Mountain West 5-1
American 3-1
Sun Belt 3-1
Big 12 4-2 (1 game left)
Big Ten 6-4
Independents 2-2
SEC 5-6 (2 games left)
Conference USA 3-5
MAC 3-5
ACC 2-4
PAC 12 0-5
Here’s the complete college bowl schedule with results:
Friday, Dec. 17
Bahamas Bowl: Middle Tennessee 31, Toledo 24
Cure Bowl: Coastal Carolina 47, Northern Illinois 41
Saturday, Dec. 18
Boca Raton Bowl: Western Kentucky 59, Appalachian State 38
Celebration Bowl: S.C. State 31, Jackson State 10
New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State 31, UTEP 24
Independence Bowl: UAB 31, No. 13 BYU 28
LendingTree Bowl: Liberty 56, Eastern Michigan 20
LA Bowl: Utah State 24, Oregon State 13
New Orleans Bowl: No. 23 Louisiana 36, Marshall 21
Monday, Dec. 20
Myrtle Beach Bowl: Tulsa 30, Old Dominion 17
Tuesday, Dec. 21
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Wyoming 52, Kent State 38
Frisco Bowl: No. 24 San Diego State 38, UTSA 24
Wednesday, Dec. 22
Armed Forces Bowl: Army 24, Missouri 22
Thursday, Dec. 23
Frisco Football Classic: Miami, O. 27, North Texas 14
Gasparilla Bowl: Central Florida 29, Florida 17
Friday, Dec. 24
Hawai’i Bowl: Memphis vs. Hawaii (cancelled, COVID-19 issues with Hawaii)
Saturday, Dec. 25
Camellia Bowl: Georgia State 51, Ball State 20
Monday, Dec. 27
Quick Lane Bowl: Western Michigan 52, Nevada 24
Military Bowl: East Carolina vs. Boston College (cancelled, COVID-19, other issues with Boston College)
Tuesday, Dec. 28
Birmingham Bowl: No. 20 Houston 17, Auburn 13
First Responder Bowl: Air Force 31, Louisville 28
Liberty Bowl: Texas Tech 34, Mississippi State 7
Holiday Bowl: No. 18 N.C. State vs. UCLA (cancelled, COVID-19 issues with UCLA)
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Minnesota 18, West Virginia 6
Wednesday, Dec. 29
Fenway Bowl: Virginia vs. SMU (cancelled, COVID-19 issues with Virginia)
Pinstripe Bowl: Maryland 54, Virginia Tech 10
Cheez-It Bowl: No. 19 Clemson 20, Iowa State 13
Alamo Bowl: No. 16 Oklahoma 47, No. 14 Oregon 32
Thursday, Dec. 30
Duke’s Mayo Bowl: South Carolina 38, North Carolina 21
Music City Bowl: Purdue 48, Tennessee 45 (OT)
Peach Bowl: No. 10 Michigan State 31, No. 12 Pittsburgh 21
Las Vegas Bowl: Wisconsin 20, Arizona State 13
Friday, Dec. 31
Gator Bowl: No. 17 Wake Forest 38, Rutgers 10
(No. 24 Texas A&M opted out due to COVID-19 issues)
Sun Bowl: Washington State vs. Miami, Fla., noon (Miami withdrew due to COVID-19 issues)
Sun Bowl: Central Michigan 24, Washington State 21
Arizona Bowl: Central Michigan vs. TBA, 2 p.m. (Boise State withdrew due to COVID-19 issues)
(College Football Playoff semifinals)
Cotton Bowl: No. 1 Alabama 27, No. 4 Cincinnati 6
Orange Bowl: No. 3 Georgia 34, No. 2 Michigan 11
Saturday, Jan. 1
Outback Bowl: No. 21 Arkansas 24, Penn State 10
Citrus Bowl: No. 22 Kentucky 20, No. 15 Iowa 17
Fiesta Bowl: No. 9 Oklahoma State 37, No. 5 Notre Dame 35
Rose Bowl: No. 6 Ohio State 48, No. 11 Utah 45
Sugar Bowl: No. 7 Baylor 21, No. 8 Mississippi 7
Tuesday, Jan. 4
Texas Bowl: Kansas State vs. LSU, 9 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 10
(College Football Playoff championship game)
At Indianapolis: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 3 Georgia, 8 p.m.
High school basketball
This week’s schedule:
(Monday)
Corvian Community at Mountain Island Charter
(Tuesday)
Bessemer City at Shelby
Burns at Thomas Jefferson
East Gaston at Cherryville
Foard at East Lincoln
St. Stephens at North Lincoln
Bandys at Lincolnton
West Lincoln at Bunker Hill
Sugar Creek at Piedmont CC
Gaston Christian at Westminster Catawba
SouthLake Christian at Gaston Day
(Wednesday)
Statesville at East Lincoln (boys only)
Burns at Crest
Catawba Ridge at South Point
Mountain Island Charter at Union Academy
(Thursday)
No games
(Friday)
Ashbrook at Cramer
Crest at North Gaston
Huss at Forestview
Kings Mountain at South Point
Cherryville at Bessemer City
Shelby at Highland Tech
Thomas Jefferson at East Gaston
North Lincoln at Foard
St. Stephens at East Lincoln
Lincolnton at West Caldwell
West Lincoln at Newton-Conover
Gaston Christian at Concord Academy
Gaston Day at Hickory Grove Christian
Langtree Charter at Lincoln Charter
Pine Lake Prep at Mountain Island Charter
Arborcreek Christian at Piedmont CC