Big East preseason player of the year Ryan Kalkbrenner scored a career-high 49 points and 15th-ranked Creighton needed just about every one of them in a season-opening 99-86 win over UT-Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday night.

Creighton, a Sweet 16 team three of the last four seasons, couldn’t shake off the Vaqueros of the Southland Conference until the final two minutes.

The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner’s point total was the second-highest in program history behind Bob Portman’s 51 against UW-Milwaukee in 1967. The fifth-year center was an astonishing 20 of 22 from the field, including 2 for 2 on 3-pointers, and he made 7 of 8 free throws. He also grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots.

Steven Ashworth scored 25 points for the Bluejays.

Hasan Abdul-Hakim had 24 points and Cliff Davis and DK Thorn added 17 apiece for the Vaqueros (0-2), who were within 87-82 when Howie Fleming Jr. made a fifth-chance basket with 2:37 left.

Takeaways

UT Rio Grande Valley: The Vaqueros kept it close by going 14 of 35 on 3-pointers and outworking Creighton on the boards in the second half. They finished with 19 second-chance points. They dropped to 0-14 against Top 25 opponents and have lost 56 straight against power-conference opponents, according to Sportradar.

Creighton: The Bluejays were 30-point favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, and got more than they bargained for against the Vaqueros. Coach Greg McDermott was forced to play his starters until the final minute.

Ryan Kalkbrenner drops a 49-point double-double in Creighton’s 99-86 win over UTRGV

Key moment

Kalkbrenner scored 10 straight points in a variety of ways in the first half. He made a free throw, hit a 3 from the wing, dunked a lob from Jamiya Neal, beat the player guarding him downcourt for a fast-break layup and showed some post moves for an easy bucket.

Key stat

Creighton won its 30th straight home opener, a streak that started in 1995.

Up next

Creighton hosts Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday in the second of four home games over 11 days. UT-Rio Grande Valley returns home to play Champion Christian College on Sunday.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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There are plenty of European heavyweights still outside those top eight positions, with Manchester City, in 10th, and Arsenal, 12th after losing to Inter Milan, on seven points and therefore not on pace to hit the 16-point target.

However, Pep Guardiola’s side remain favourites to win the competition for a second time, still with a 91.1% chance of reaching the last 16 and a 19.3% chance of claiming the trophy.

Arsenal are given an 80.0% chance of progressing to the last 16 but also a 58.4% chance of having to go through the knockout round play-off to do so.

City have Juventus and Paris St-Germain among their remaining fixtures, while Arsenal must face high-flying Sporting and Monaco in their next two.

Celtic are 15th and also on seven points, having boosted their hopes with a second win, beating Leipzig 3-1 on Tuesday. They visit Villa in the final match on Wednesday, 29 January, when all 36 teams will play at the same time.

Celtic’s latest victory means Brendan Rodgers’ side – on the same points as the likes of Juventus (11th), Bayern Munich (17th) and Real Madrid (18th) – have a strong chance of making the top 24 (78.2%), with their last 16 hopes rated at 40.2%.

French champions Paris St-Germain are the biggest name outside the top 24, having won just one of their first four games and with City and Bayern Munich to come. The 2020 finalists are now given only a 43.4% chance of making the last 16.

View the Champions League table in full here.

For years, UFC CEO Dana White has teased adding boxing to his promotional portfolio. Despite recent bullish comments on diving into the sport, the UFC owners do not currently share the same vision.

In September, during a Q&A before Callum Walsh’s boxing fight against Przemyslaw Runowski, which aired on UFC Fight Pass, White said he was working toward “big announcements” with his boxing involvement.

“If you know anything about me and you go back and look at anything that I’ve ever said, I never say anything that I don’t do – ever,” White said. “I’ve never said (something I don’t do), and we’ve been kicking the whole boxing thing around for a long time. You’ve never heard me commit and say, ‘I’m in.’ I’m in.”

Aside from the UFC, White has been busy in recent years with different ventures. He has launched Dana White’s Contender Series, which offers regional MMA fighters the opportunity to earn a UFC contract, and a slap fighting league named Power Slap.

Wednesday, during a quarterly earnings call, TKO Group Holdings president and CEO Mark Shapiro shared his thoughts on White’s desire to jump into boxing.

“First of all, some off-the-cuff comments from Dana White do not translate into a strategy that we’re communicating to the street,” Shapiro said in a quote transcribed by MMA Fighting. “Dana says a lot of things and has a lot of passions and that’s why we love him. He’s also the best promoter the sport of MMA, and frankly if it was boxing, has or will ever see.

“What I can tell you is boxing at its best is confused and fragmented. At its worst, it’s broken. We think the sport presents an interesting growth opportunity for us. Dana White, and I should mention (WWE president) Nick Khan, have deep expertise and longstanding relationships in what they call the sweet science, otherwise known as boxing. If we were to get involved in boxing, we would expect to do so in an organic way, not (mergers and acquisitions) way. So, i.e., we’re not writing a check. If we launched the vertical at any time, we kind of see it as doing it with a partner that would fund it and pay us to operate.”

White has occasionally sported Zuffa Boxing t-shirts over the years. He is currently a backer of Walsh, a 12-0 boxer from Ireland, perhaps his most significant step toward the sport yet. The UFC boss admits that part of Walsh’s allure is his Irish background, which reminds him of the early days of Conor McGregor, who became a megastar in MMA.

Despite White getting behind a rising talent, the UFC owners do not appear ready to launch a boxing venture on their own. The group seems willing to explore potential partnership options, but according to Shapiro, it is not part of their immediate plans.

“Nothing to announce today, but this is one area we’re going to continue to explore,” Shapiro said. “We’ve talked about a dearth of leagues that are out there. Obviously, we’re acquiring (Professional Bull Riders), there’s not much else. We don’t necessarily need to add anything to our model, but boxing is ripe for a fix.

“We’re blessed to have two experts in the field, and if an opportunity presents itself or we can chase one down that does not put much risk or any risk for that matter on us financially, then we’re going to pursue it. In terms of models and leagues and how we’d structure it, etc., etc., that’s way down the road. Once we have something, if we have something, you’ll be the first to know.”

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes practiced as usual Wednesday and plans to be ready for this weekend’s game against the Broncos, two days after tweaking his left ankle while throwing a touchdown pass in a win over the Buccaneers.

Mahomes was rolling to his right and thinking about running for a first down as the Chiefs were trying to rally in the second half against Tampa Bay on Monday night. He suddenly saw Samaje Perine coming open and flicked a pass to him in the end zone, just as his ankle caught in the soggy turf of Arrowhead Stadium and sent a sharp pain rocketing through it.

Mahomes lay on the sideline for a moment before he was helped partway across the field, then trotted without any assistance the rest of the way to the Kansas City sideline. He was examined there but did not miss a play, eventually helping the Chiefs to another touchdown in regulation and the winning drive in overtime for a 30-24 victory over the Bucs.

“It’s doing good,” Mahomes said of his ankle Wednesday. “Obviously went on a little bit of a roll. It’s a little sore. But I’m able to move around and looking forward to getting out in practice and seeing how I can push it as the week goes on.”

Mahomes has plenty of experience nursing ankle injuries.

The most high-profile one occurred during the playoffs two seasons ago, and he needed every bit of help recovering in time to face the Eagles in the Super Bowl. Mahomes tweaked it again in the first half but returned to lead the Chiefs to victory.

“We won’t have to back off,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of the two-time NFL MVP. “He manages it. He stays on top of it.”

That process began immediately after Monday night’s game, then continued at home — every day made more important by the fact that Kansas City is facing the Broncos on a short week Sunday. Mahomes was in the practice facility early Tuesday to watch game film and get additional treatment, and he was ready for the first practice of the week Wednesday.

“You can only do so much,” Mahomes said. “It was pretty late getting some stuff in the training room after the game, getting some stuff to take home. Stuff you can put on overnight to reduce swelling. You come in early in the morning — it was a long day of watching film and getting treatment, and preparing yourself for a short week.”

In other injury news, Reid said wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster still would not practice as he nurses a hamstring injury that has kept him out of most of the past three games. Defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton also was out with a bruised knee.

Reid also had no update on Charles Omenihu and Isiah Pacheco, both of whom the Chiefs hope to get back for the stretch run.

Omenihu tore the ACL in his right knee in their AFC title win over Baltimore and had surgery in February, and he has spent the entire season on the physically unable-to-perform list. Pacheco has been out since Week 2, when he fractured his fibula in a win over Cincinnati and landed on injured reserve following surgery.

The Chiefs have been able to overcome a host of injuries — including devastating ones to Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown that thinned out their wide receiver corps — by making some savvy moves in the front office.

Kansas City traded for Patriots defensive end Joshua Uche just before the deadline, and he made his debut as a pass-rushing specialist in Monday night’s win over the Buccaneers. The Chiefs also signed Kareem Hunt after Pacheco’s injury, and their one-time star has delivered: He has logged at least 21 carries in each of the last four games, scoring touchdowns in all of them, and has twice eclipsed 100 yards, including the winning two-yard TD plunge in overtime against Tampa Bay.

Perhaps none of the moves has been as high-profile as the Chiefs’ trade with Tennessee for DeAndre Hopkins, though.

The three-time All-Pro wide receiver practiced just two days before playing a limited role in a win in Las Vegas. Then, he logged a full week of work and showed out Monday night, catching eight passes for 86 yards and two scores against the Bucs.

“You just continue to get him more and more comfortable in the offense,” Mahomes said. “We move him around and let him do what he’s special at, and that’s catching the football and winning those one-on-one matchups.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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