The Hoyas and the Heat notched road wins, Washington State staged an upset in Hawaii and the Steelers and the Aztecs rolled on the gridiron as we serve up a steaming hot dish of basketball and football to get your Friday morning started off right.
Men's college basketball
Georgetown 86, Memphis 69: Georgetown led by just four points at halftime, but a strong second-half effort lifted the No. 9 Hoyas over the 17-ranked Tigers. Senior Austin Freeman led the way for Georgetown with 24 points and teammate Chris Wright chipped in 19. The win was Georgetown's third straight; the loss the Tigers' first since falling to Kansas on Dec. 7.
Washington State 77, Baylor 71: Klay Thompson's 20 points helped the Cougars to a big upset win over the 15-ranked Bears in the semifinals of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. Five players scored in double-digits to lead Washington State to its fifth straight win and a spot in the tourney finals against the winner of the Butler-Florida State semifinal.
College football: San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
San Diego State 35, Navy 14: San Diego State's first bowl win since 1969 was a convincing one, as they slid by Navy at a slippery Qualcomm Stadium. Days of heavy rain leading up to Thursday's contest forced organizers to pump 1.5 million gallons of rainwater out of the stadium -- and the Navy midshipmen may have fared better underwater. They got lit up by Aztec freshman Ronnie Hillman, who scored four touchdowns and ran for a career-best 228 yards, good enough to set a new Poinsettia Bowl rushing record.
NFL
Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Carolina Panthers 3: This one was over before you could spell R-O-E-T-H-L-I-S-B-E-R-G-E-R. The game was even more one-sided than the score indicates, as Big Ben picked apart the Panthers defense for 320 yards and two touchdowns -- one with his arm and one with his feet. With the win, Pittsburgh improves to 11-4 on the year and can clinch the AFC North with a Ravens loss on Sunday.
NBA
Miami Heat 95, Phoenix Suns 83: The Heat saw their 12-game win streak snapped by Dallas on Monday but bounced back with a solid victory in Phoenix Thursday night. LeBron James led the way for Miami with 36 points and Chris Bosh added a double-double of 23 points and 11 boards. Dwyane Wade sat out with a sore knee but the Heat did just fine without him.
