Sports: Red Wings and Pistons Struggle On West Trips

The Red Wings lost to the Blackhawks, 4-3 in overtime in Chicago last night.  Andreas Athanasiou, Tomas Tatar and Luke Glendening had Detroit's goals in regulation. Duncan Keith scored a power-play goal 38 seconds into overtime giving the Blackhawks' their fourth straight victory.  Keith beat Petr Mrazek with a rising screened shot from the top of the slot after Justin Adbelkader was called for boarding with just seconds left in regulation.  Petr Mrazek had 39 saves as the Red Wings fell to 2-2-2 on a season-high seven-game road trip. The Red Wings travel to Dallas to play the Stars on Thursday night.

Pistons

The Pistons lost in Sacramento, 100-94 on Tuesday night.  The Kings closed the game with an 11-2 run, and Detroit went scoreless over the final 1:15.   The Pistons led by nine entering the fourth, when they were outscored 32-17.  The Pistons play at Golden State on Thursday night.

Peppers to Go Pro

Jabrill Peppers wasn’t able to play for the Wolverines in the Orange Bowl loss, because of a hamstring injury.   He won’t be playing another game for Michigan.   Peppers has decided to enter the NFL draft and skip his senior season at Michigan.   The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Heisman Trophy finalist is projected to be a first-round pick in April.    Peppers usually played linebacker, one of 15 positions the team says he played last season on defense, offense and special teams. Peppers won the Hornung Award as the nation's most versatile college football player.

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson is also giving up his final year of eligibility after guiding the Tigers to national championship.

Women’s College Basketball

Tori Jankoska broke two records for Michigan State last night.  Jankoska scored 42 points, breaking the Spartans' single-game and all-time scoring records in a 94-75 victory over No. 11 Ohio State on Tuesday night.   She passes Aerial Powers' on the all-time scoring list, and broke Maxann Reese's 1999 mark of 41 points in a game.

Michigan beat Indiana 78-74.

Men’s College Basketball

WMU beat Toledo, 90-74.  Reggie Jones scored 20. All five starters finished in double figures for the Broncos as WMU shot 70 percent from the field.

Eastern Michigan beat Bowling Green 81-53.

Akron held off Central Michigan 89-85.

Michigan hosts Illinois tonight.  Both teams are 1-2 so far in Big 10 play.

MSU hosts Minnesota tonight.   Broadcast time is 6pm on WBCK.

Bowling Green at WMU.

Ball State at CMU.

EMU at Miami of Ohio.

NFL Playoffs

Next Saturday, Seattle is at Atlanta, and Houston is at New England.

Sunday, Green Bay is at Dallas and Pittsburgh is at Kansas City.

Carl Edwards Quits Joe Gibbs

Joe Gibbs Racing is losing its top driver. Two people with knowledge of the situation tell The Associated Press that Carl Edwards is walking away from the final year of his contract, telling Gibbs just before Christmas that he no longer wants to compete. The racing team is expected to announce Edwards' decision and name reigning Xfinity Series champion Daniel Suarez as the replacement driver at separate news conferences tomorrow.