Cincinnati stuns Duke with two late scores
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 27 (UPI) -- An 83-yard TD pass from Brendon Kay to Travis Kelce with 55 seconds left Thursday snapped a tie and boosted Cincinnati to a 48-34 Belk Bowl win over Duke.
The Blue Devils appeared ready to end a bowl victory drought that has extended more than half a century when they moved inside the Cincinnati 10 with less than 2 minutes remaining in a tie contest.
Duke's Josh Snead, however, fumbled the ball away on the Bearcats' 5-yard line.
Cincinnati picked up one first down before Kay hit Kelce with the winning touchdown throw. The Bearcats tacked on another touchdown when Nick Temple intercepted a pass by Sean Renfree and returned it 55 yards with 27 seconds remaining.
Kay threw four scoring passes and completed 17-of-25 for 332 yards without an interception.
The Bearcats finished the season at 10-3, having undergone a coaching change at the end of the regular season. Butch Jones resigned at Cincinnati to become the head coach at Tennessee and was replaced by Texas Tech's Tommy Tuberville. It was Steve Stripling, however, who coached from the sidelines in the bowl game.
Duke scored the game's first 16 points in a bid to win a post-season game for the first time since Jan. 1, 1961 -- when the Blue Devils defeated Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. Duke, which wound up 6-7 and lost its final five games of the campaign, had not appeared in a bowl game in 17 years.
After falling behind 16-0, Cincinnati scored 27 consecutive points to seemingly take control.
Duke then rallied for back-to-back touchdowns to go in front early in the fourth period, Cincinnati came back to take a three-point lead on Kay's third touchdown pass of the game and the Blue Devils tied it at 34-34 on a field goal of 52 yards by Ross Martin midway through the final period.
NBA suspends Dwyane Wade for one game
NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The NBA Thursday announced Miami's Dwyane Wade would be suspended for one game for kicking an opposing player during a game Wednesday.
Wade appeared to intentionally kick Charlotte's Ramon Sessions in the groin after Sessions had been called for fouling Wade.
No foul was called on Wade during the incident, which took place early in the fourth quarter. Wade went on to score eight of his 29 points in the final 8 minutes to help Miami pull away for a 105-92 victory.
San Jose State wins seventh in a row
WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Austin Lopez put San Jose State in front with a fourth-quarter field goal Thursday and the Spartans went on to defeat Bowling Green 29-20 in the Military Bowl.
San Jose State quarterback David Fales completed 33-of-43 passes for 395 yards and two touchdowns, but the Spartans found themselves trailing 20-19 after Bowling Green's John Pettigrew scored on a 1-yard run with 10:43 left in the contest.
Fales then drove the Spartans 68 yards to set up the go-ahead field goal of 27 yards by Lopez and San Jose State took advantage of a fumble to produce the clinching touchdown from De'Leon Eskridge on a 1-yard run.
San Jose State won its third straight bowl game in a span of 21 years. The Spartans' most recent bowl appearance had come at the end of the 2006 season -- a 20-12 triumph over New Mexico.
The Spartans finished this season with an 11-2 record and Thursday's win was their seventh in a row. San Jose State Coach Mike MacIntyre took the head coaching position at Colorado after the final regular-season game and the Spartans were guided in the bowl game by interim coach Kent Baer.
Fales opened the scoring by throwing a 33-yard pass to Kyle Nunn 5 minutes deep in the game and he hit Chandler Jones with an 18-yarder late in the third period to give the Spartans a 19-13 lead. Lopez kicked two field goals and made all 17 of his attempts this season.
Bowling Green quarterback Matt Schilz threw for 159 yards. The Falcons closed the season at 8-5 and have lost their last three bowl games over the past 5 years.
Teams from the Western Athletic Conference made two bowl trips this year and won them both. Utah State defeated Toledo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The Mid-American Conference is 1-3 in this season's bowl games with three appearances remaining.
Gasol to play through foot problem
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Lakers announced Thursday Pau Gasol would continue to play despite being diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
An inflammation was discovered during an MRI Thursday. Gasol returned to action a week ago after missing eight games with sore knees.
The Lakers said Gasol would be listed as probable for Friday's game against Portland.
Gasol has played in at least 29 minutes during each of his four games since returning from the knee problems. He scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds in 37 minutes during the Lakers' loss to Denver on Wednesday.
He is averaging 12.6 points during his 21 games this season. Gasol is in his 12th NBA season and has never averaged less than 17 points for a full campaign.
