Maurice Watson Jr. scored 21 points and No. 8 Creighton matched its best start in program history with a 75-64 victory over No. 12 Butler on Wednesday night.
The Bluejays (16-1, 4-1 Big East) rode hot shooting in the first half to build a big lead that Butler (14-3, 3-2) couldn’t overcome with its star Kelan Martin still struggling with his shot.
Watson made 9 of 14 shots and had seven assists but committed a season-high eight turnovers. Khyri Thomas added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Cole Huff and Justin Patton each had 10 points.
Avery Woodson led the Bulldogs with 14 points.
Butler lost for the first time in five games against Top 25 opponents, and it failed in the bid for a fourth win over a top 10 opponent. All of the losses have come on the road.

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When Seattle Seahawks receiver Paul Richardson made a miraculous, one-handed touchdown catch in his team’s playoff opener, then followed it up with another acrobatic grab , plenty of folks watching the game on TV had one simple question: «Who is that guy? »
Happens every season.
Because while even the most casual NFL fan is familiar with certain players on each team — Russell Wilson, the quarterback throwing to Richardson, for example — there are plenty of others on the roster who are relatively, or completely, unknown to even thorough fans.
They’re not mysteries to their coaches and teammates, though.
«This is the kind of play we see from him in practice, so it’s not unfamiliar,» Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said about Richardson. «Some of the plays were circus-like, but he has done that. … He’s been waiting a long while to help this team and feel significant about that impact and he’s done that. »
Maybe Richardson will again step out of the shadows Doug Baldwin or Jimmy Graham to make a mark for Seattle against the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday. Or maybe another unheralded player will wind up making a difference.
AP writers who cover each remaining playoff team picked one player who you might not have heard of but could play a key role in the divisional round this weekend :
DALLAS COWBOYS:
You’ve Heard of Them: QB Dak Prescott, RB Ezekiel Elliott, LB Sean Lee.
You Might Not Know Him: S Barry Church (42).
Why You Should: While Lee had a career year in his first All-Pro season, Church anchored the league’s No. 1 rushing defense as a run-stopping safety. He missed all of November with a broken arm, and it was clear that Dallas’ D was not as sturdy without him. When Dallas played Green Bay in the regular season, Church intercepted Aaron Rodgers.
What Was Said: «He’s got great energy. He’s a really good communicator. I think guys respond well to him. » — coach Jason Garrett.
—
ATLANTA FALCONS:
You’ve Heard of Them: QB Matt Ryan, WR Julio Jones.
You Might Not Know Him: WR Taylor Gabriel (No. 18).
Why You Should: Gabriel, a 5-foot-8 speedster who was undrafted out of Abilene Christian, was looking for a job a week before this season began after getting cut by the Cleveland Browns, of all teams. Now he’s a threat to go all the way any time he touches the ball, whether via a screen pass or an end-around run, and scored more TDs (7) than Jones (6).
What Was Said: «Everybody could tell from Day One he was a guy who was going to be able to help us in some way. » — Ryan.
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SEATTLE SEAHAWKS:
You’ve Heard of Them: CB Richard Sherman, S Kam Chancellor, LB Bobby Wagner.
You Might Not Know Him: CB DeShawn Shead (No. 35).
Why You Should: Shead has been under the radar his whole career, an undrafted guy from Portland State who only this season became a regular starter on a talented defense famous for «Legion of Boom» members Sherman and Chancellor. While Sherman will be counted on to take away one side of the field, Shead is capable of stopping whichever wideout he covers. He was responsible for one of Tom Brady’s two interceptions this season.
What Was Said: «He’s done a great job adjusting, growing throughout the season, doing his job. He’s a technician. » — Sherman.
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GREEN BAY PACKERS:
You’ve Heard of Them: QB Aaron Rodgers, WRs Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, LBs Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers.
You Might Not Know Him: TE Jared Cook (No. 89).
Why You Should: The 6-foot-4 Cook gives Rodgers the kind of athletic target that he hasn’t had at tight end in years. Cook’s return from an ankle injury that sidelined him in October, when Green Bay lost to Dallas, added an option to the offense, helped open up the middle and gave opposing safeties something else to think about.
What Was Said: «He’s a big body. He’s tough to cover. He does a good job catching the football and a good job with the ball in his hands. » — Rodgers.
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NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS:
You’ve Heard of Them: QB Tom Brady, RB LeGarrette Blount, TE Martellus Bennett.
You Might Not Know Him: LG Joe Thuney (No. 62).
Why You Should: Thuney, a rookie, has been a key member of a Patriots offensive line that has allowed just 17 sacks one season after giving up 38. Thuney didn’t allow a sack until Week 15. He’s also been an ironman, playing 1,114 of 1,118 snaps. If Houston’s defense is kept away from Brady, Thuney will part of the reason.
What Was Said: «Being able to stay out there, day after day and week after week, is tough in this league. Joe’s done a good job of that, though. » — coach Bill Belichick.
—
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS:
You’ve Heard of Them: S Eric Berry, CB Marcus Peters
You Might Not Know Him: S Daniel Sorensen (No. 49)
Why You Should: Sorensen, a former undrafted free agent out of BYU, might be listed as a backup safety, but he rarely leaves the field. Along with playing special teams, he helps give Berry, Peters and the rest of the defensive backfield a hard-hitting presence. And he is always around the ball, recovering three fumbles and picking off three passes this season, with one returned for a touchdown.
What Was Said: «When the ball is on the ground, he has no fear about going in there and getting it. There’s no hesitation. … He’s got a nose for it, and it just seems like the ball is bouncing to him right now. » — special teams coach Dave Toub.
—
PITTSBURGH STEELERS:
You’ve Heard of Them: QB Ben Roethlisberger, WR Antonio Brown, RB Le’Veon Bell.
You Might Not Know Him: TE Jesse James (No. 81).
Why You Should: The 6-foot-7 James was simply supposed to be a placeholder until Ladarius Green got healthy. But James became a productive part of Pittsburgh’s versatile offense, catching 39 passes and scoring three TDs. His blocking, a weak spot during his rookie season in 2015, is much improved. The proof came when he took on two defenders on Brown’s 50-yard catch-and-run score last weekend.
What Was Said: «He’s a really cerebral young guy. He takes an analytic approach to getting better. » — coach Mike Tomlin.
—
HOUSTON TEXANS:
You’ve Heard of Them: DE Jadeveon Clowney, WR DeAndre Hopkins
You Might Not Know Him: LB Benardrick McKinney (No. 55).
Why You Should: The 6-foot-4, 260-pound McKinney leads the Texans with 129 tackles, almost twice as many as any teammate on the league’s top-ranked defense. He also accumulated five sacks and forced a fumble. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel loves that McKinney is able to drop into coverage at his size.
What Was Said: «He’s a very instinctive player, so I think that it was only a matter of time before he was going to be playing at a high level. » — coach Bill O’Brien.
—
AP Sports Writers Genaro Armas, Tim Booth, Schuyler Dixon, Will Graves, Kyle Hightower, Charles Odum, Kristie Rieken and Dave Skretta contributed.
—
For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL

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(STMW) — A golfer claims he was hit and seriously injured by a porta-potty that was being hauled by a forklift driver while he played at a course in northwest suburban Elk Grove Village last summer.
Brian Berg was watching his 6-iron shot from the fairway to the front of the seventh hole green at Fox Run Golf Links when his round took a turn for the worse on Aug. 11, according to a lawsuit he filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court.
A course employee had taken the forklift off the golf cart path and was driving “blind” as a portable toilet “completely obscured his view,” and hit Berg from behind, the suit says.
After he was knocked to the ground by the porta-potty’s “initial blow,” it did not stop, hitting him in the face and knocking him unconscious, the suit says. It injured his shoulder, cut his chin, cracked a rib, bruised a bicep and caused “a large, deep bruise to his leg.”
Berg is suing the Elk Grove Park District, which owns and operates Fox Run, and the employee who was driving the forklift. Officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening.
The worker was driving “with complete and utter indifference to the probability that a golfer would be in the path of a porta-potty,” according to the negligence suit, which claims the course “uses unsafe means and methods of transporting toilets.”
Berg is seeking more than $50,000 in damages.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire copy; Chicago Sun-Times 2017. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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LAS VEGAS, Jan. 11 (UPI) — Undefeated retired boxing champion Floyd Mayweather welcomes a boxing bout with UFC champion Conor McGregor.
Fittingly, it’s cash that’s keeping ‘Money’ Mayweather from stepping into the ring with McGregor.
Mayweather was a guest on ESPN’s First Take Wednesday. He asked McGregor and the UFC to make the fight happen.
«You guys keep hearing all these different rumors about different fighters want to face Floyd Mayweather,» Mayweather said on First Take. «Everybody keeps talking about Conor McGregor. He’s blowing smoke up everybody’s [expletive]. Dana White, the UFC— let’s make it happen. Bring him over to the boxing world, and I’ll show him what it’s like. »
The price tag for Mayweather’s return is set at $100 million guaranteed. McGregor said he wants the same amount for his hands in the duel.
«We are willing to give him $15 million, and then we can talk about splitting the percentage—the back end—on the pay-per-view. But of course, we’re the ‘A side.’ How can a guy talk about making 20 or 30 million if he has never made 8 or 9 million in a fight,» Mayweather told First Take .
The 28-year-old McGregor got his boxing license in December. The lightweight champion is taking a break from the Octagon due to the birth of his first child. Mayweather hasn’t boxed since beating Andre Berto in 2015.
«Right now, I have Floyd running around the Showtime offices gathering my money,» McGregor told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in August. «That’s what he’s doing. He’s running around the Showtime offices, begging those executives to come up with the $100 million cash he needs to fight me. As soon as he gets my money, we can fight. »
The most disclosed money McGregor has cashed in for in a UFC fight was the $3 million he got for his UFC 202 win against Nate Diaz. Mayweather made more than $300 million for his 2015 victory against Manny Pacquiao.
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, has said that the UFC won’t «entertain the idea of getting their cash cow annihilated,» according to the Review-Journal .
McGregor jabbed Mayweather Wednesday by taking a shot at his history of domestic violence.
He posted a photo on Twitter of himself in emoji form, standing over Mayweather while holding championship belts. He wrote: «call me C. J. Watson ,» as the caption.
Mayweather spent two months in prison after punching former girlfriend Josie Harris on Sept. 9, 2010. He has denied the altercation. According to the police report , Mayweather was holding Harris’ cellphone and yelling at her about text messages from NBA guard C. J. Watson before the altercation. Harris admitted to her relationship with Watson while talking with Mayweather, according to the report.
Mayweather pleaded guilty to a reduced domestic violence charge and no contest to multiple harassment charges in 2011.

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Daniel Suarez’s chance to compete at NASCAR’s highest level came earlier than he expected. But he says he’s ready for it.
“When you are with right team, you know the opportunity will come, and it will come at the right time,” Suarez said Wednesday after it was announced he will replace Carl Edwards in Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR Cup No. 19 Toyota. “I was there to take the opportunity and here we are. It’s something that you dream about.”
Mexico’s Suarez, 24, had been busy enough since winning last season’s Xfinity championship, becoming the first foreign-born driver to win NASCAR national series title. Then he got a call from JGR owner Joe Gibbs that Edwards was stepping away as a driver and that Suarez would replace him.
“Thank goodness Daniel was there to step in for us,”Gibbs said Wednesday. “Daniel was the obvious choice.”
Now, Suarez’s challenge is to prepare for a rookie season that will include the first Cup race of his career – February’s Daytona 500 – for one of the sport’s most competitive teams. Suarez will step into a solid No. 19 team led by crew chief Dave Rogers.
“I can’t wait to start learning about everything,” Suarez said.
Suarez began racing go karts when he was 11 in his hometown of Monterrey, Mexico, traveling around the country in a pickup truck driven by his father, who also served as his crew chief and mechanic.
“It started as a hobby,” Suarez told the Observer last June. “But we didn’t have much money. We were always looking for a sponsor and money. We had to somehow find a way to pull me to the next level. My dad and myself wanted to do something more in the sport, to be more professional, but we had no experience in what we were doing.”
Suarez eventually caught the eye of Jim Morales, who operated a race team in Mexico. By the time Suarez was 16, he was racing Mini Stocks in NASCAR Mexico and became the youngest driver to win a race in that series.
Morales advised Suarez his best chances to advance in the sport were to head to Europe for open-wheel racing or the United States for NASCAR. At first, Suarez chose Europe. But after a year in Italy, he decided to give NASCAR a try.
Suarez moved to the Charlotte area in 2011, but his first year in the United States was difficult. Struggling with the English language, Suarez drove for an independent team in racing’s lower levels with no success.
He practiced speaking with the engineers and mechanics at the race shop. He made a point of watching English-speaking television and movies.
As Suarez became fluent in English, his racing fortunes improved. In 2013, he was chosen to for NASCAR’s Drive For Diversity, a development system that spotlights minority and female drivers. He was also chosen for NASCAR Next, which helps prepare selected young drivers for a career in the sport.
He won three races in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series East in 2013 and ’14. He drove in three Xfinity races in 2014, during which he was noticed by JGR, which signed him to its Xfinity team.
Suarez made the most of that opportunity. He was rookie of the year in the Xfinity in 2015, then won the 2016 championship, winning three races in the process.
A few weeks ago, Suarez was eating lunch with his girlfriend and her family when he received a phone call from Gibbs. Suarez left the table and listened to what Gibbs had to say: Edwards was unexpectedly retiring, Gibbs said, and Suarez was the team’s choice to move into the No. 19.
The news from Edwards – who at age 37 seemed to be in the prime of his career – had caught Gibbs completely unaware.
“This one threw us a curve ball, to be sure,” said Gibbs, who also coached Washington to three Super Bowl victories. “But that’s part of life and what we do.
“About 90 percent of the time, what happens with a coach is you’ve got to tell a guy you’re done at (age) 35, 36 or 37. Normally, you’re telling the athlete it’s over.”
Gibbs said he has encouraged Suarez to lean on JGR teammates Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth for advice.
Gibbs said Busch called him recently.
“He’s driving me crazy!” Gibbs recalled Busch saying. “He’s calling me, like, five times a week.”
Suarez will take part in a test on Jan. 31 at Phoenix International Raceway (one that will also be attended by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is returning to racing after missing the second half of last season with a concussion).
Then it will be on to Daytona and Suarez’s rookie season as a Cup driver. Gibbs said Suarez will also drive in some Xfinity races, with Busch, Hamlin and Kenseth also possibly helping filling in for that team.
“I know this won’t be easy,” Suarez said. “But I couldn’t be on a better team to do this.”

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(CBS) — The World Series Champion Chicago Cubs are going to the White House Monday to be honored by President Obama, and Manager Joe Maddon is looking forward to the trip.
WBBM’s Rob Hart reports.
Maddon was greeted by loud cheers at the Salvation Army Freedom Center on the West Side, where he was serving meals as part of his “Thanksmas” dinner for the homeless.
He says it’s been a short, action-packed offseason, thanks to the World Series.
Maddon says he’s been stopped by Cub fans telling him what the World Series Championship means to them.
“Even like pumping gas, in the RV, in a truck stop, you’re going to get people recognize me, and they come up with different stories about what it means to them or their family,” he says.
He says President Obama may be a White Sox fan, but there are plenty of Cubs fans on his staff.
It will be Maddon’s third trip to the White House and his second time meeting President Obama. He met Obama at the All Star Game in St. Louis in 2009.

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