Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. ó The Notre Dame football season is officially over.
Athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced Friday that the school has decided against going to a bowl game with a 6-6 record, citing “unique circumstances” surrounding the program.
One of those circumstances is that it has no head coach. Swarbrick earlier this week fired Charlie Weis as coach after five seasons. The search for a replacement is under way.
The Irish finished the season with four straight losses to finish at .500 for just the sixth time in 121 seasons. The last time was in 2004 when Tyrone Willingham was fired as coach.
The Irish went to the Hawaii Bowl last season with a 6-6 record, beating Hawaii 49-21.
COLLEGE HOOPS
EAST LANSING, Mich. ó Raymar Morgan had 19 points and 11 rebounds, both season-highs, to help No. 9 Michigan State beat Wofford 72-60 on Friday night.
No. 13 Florida 85, Jacksonville 67
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ó Erving Walker scored 18 points, Kenny Boynton added 15 for Florida, which made 12 3-pointers.
No. 19 Texas A&M 74, Akron 62
COLLEGE STATION, Texas ó Donald Sloan had 17 points, including a 3-pointer in the game-changing 7-0 run, and Texas A&M snapped Akron’s four-game winning streak.
NBA
OKLAHOMA CITY ó Kevin Garnett scored 23 points, Paul Pierce added 21 in the first half and Boston completed a perfect four-game trip, 105-87.
Kevin Durant scored 36 points for Oklahoma City.
Cavaliers 101, Bulls 87
CLEVELAND ó LeBron James had 23 points and 11 assists and busted out every one of his dance moves as Cleveland won for the 11th time in 13 games.
Raptors 109, Wizards 107, OT
WASHINGTON ó Hedo Turkoglu hit a jumper with 8.1 seconds left in overtime to snap Toronto’s losing streak at five games.
Knicks 114, Hawks 107
ATLANTAó Al Harrington scored 27 points, Chris Duhon had 25 points and 10 assists and New York used an effective combination of 3-pointers and drives.
Grizzlies 98, Mavericks 82
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó Zach Randolph had 24 points and 15 rebounds, and O.J. Mayo added 25 points for Memphis.
Hornets 98, T’wolves 80
NEW ORLEANS ó Chris Paul had 16 points, 15 assists and a season-best eight steals for New Orleans after missing eight games because of a sprained ankle.
Jazz 96, Pacers 87
SALT LAKE CITY ó Carlos Boozer scored a season-high 35 points and had 13 rebounds to lead Utah to its fourth straight victory.
Pistons 105, Bucks 96
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. ó Rodney Stuckey scored 19 points and rookie Jonas Jerebko added 16 to help Detroit win for just the second time in 10 games.
NHL
NEWARK, N.J. ó Jamie Langenbrunner scored with 38.1 seconds left in regulation to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night.
Canadiens 5, Bruins 1
MONTREAL ó Mike Cammalleri scored three times in the second period and Montreal celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Wild 5, Ducks 4, SO
ST. PAUL, Minn. ó Guillame Latendresse scored the winning goal in the shootout for Minnesota.
Predators 4, Blackhawks 1
CHICAGO ó Dan Ellis stopped 34 shots, and Dan Hamhuis, Martin Erat and Jordin Tootoo each had a goal and an assist to help Nashville snap Chicago’s eight-game home winning streak.
– PHILADELPHIA ó The Philadelphia Flyers replaced coach John Stevens with Peter Laviolette on Friday after the team was shut out in consecutive games.
A Carolina Hurricanes spokesman said they had granted the Flyers permission to talk to Laviolette, who led the team to its only Stanley Cup title in 2006. He was fired in December 2008 and was still under contract.
Laviolette, who also coached the New York Islanders for two seasons, was 167-130-30 in his four-plus seasons with Carolina.
MMA
SUNRISE, Fla. ó Herschel Walker will make his mixed martial arts debut next month.
The 1982 Heisman Trophy winner will face an opponent to be announced as part of a fight card at the Florida Panthers’ arena on Jan. 30.
Walker recently entered a 12-week training camp in San Jose, Calif., after signing a multi-fight contract with promoter Strikeforce. The former NFL running back holds a fifth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
GOLF
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. ó Y.E. Yang managed a7-under 65 gave him a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the Chevron World Challenge.