Chick-fil-A Bowl

announces 16th straight sellout

ATLANTA — The Chick-fil-A Bowl is a sellout for the 16th consecutive year.

The bowl said Monday it has sold all its tickets for the Dec. 31 game between No. 9 Louisiana State and No. 14 Clemson at the Georgia Dome.

The game annually matches teams from the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference.

The streak of sellouts is second only to the Rose Bowl. During the span of sellouts, the average attendance has been 72,126.

The bowl sold about 35,000 tickets to local and regional buyers. Remaining tickets were purchased by LSU and Clemson, and the schools continue to sell those tickets to their fans.

Tulane: Injured Walker

to spend holidays at home

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Injured Tulane safety Devon Walker cannot get around on his own but will be home for the holidays, according to a statement from Tulane.

“Devon is not yet mobile, but each day he continues the fight to get better,” according to the statement released Monday by the athletic department.

It quoted Walker as saying he’s happy to be going home to see family and friends.

“Some days, when I think that I just can’t do this anymore, remembering my many friends and supporters (both old and new) who are praying for me gives me the strength to go on,” he said. “I know that my fight is just beginning. Please continue to pray for my recovery.”

Walker’s spine was fractured when he made a tackle Sept. 8 at Tulsa.

He is at an undisclosed rehabilitation facility. New Orleans Saints players and coaches including Drew Brees, Joe Vitt, Jonathan Vilma, Pierre Thomas, Roman Harper, Malcolm Jenkins, Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Will Smith and Zach Strief visited him there on Nov. 29, his 22nd birthday, the university said.

His family has asked for privacy, including no statements from Tulane about whether Walker can move his arms or legs. Spinal injuries can paralyze people.

Southern Illinois

beats New Orleans 74-61

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Dantiel Daniels scored 20 points and Southern Illinois defeated New Orleans 74-61 Monday night.

Anthony Beane Jr. had 17 points, Jalen Pendleton scored 14 and Jeff Early had 12 points for the Salukis (6-2).

Lovell Cook led the Privateers (3-6) with 22 points. Corey Blake had 13 points and seven steals, and Rarlensee Nelson had 11 points and six assists.

SIU scored the game’s first eight points, but New Orleans roared back to take a 26-13 lead with 6½ minutes to play in the half. The Salukis followed that with a 17-2 run of their own with Beane’s layup just before halftime giving them a 30-28 lead.

Both teams shot 59 percent from the field in the second half, but Southern Illinois never trailed after the break and its 13-point margin at the end matched its biggest lead of the game.

Florida State defeats

Louisiana-Monroe 63-48

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Playing without its leading scorer, Michael Snaer, Florida State shook off a sluggish start and rallied behind a season-high performance by Okaro White and Snaer’s fill-in, Aaron Thomas.

White had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Thomas, a freshman, added a career-high 17 points in his first college start as Florida State defeated Louisiana-Monroe 63-48 Monday night.

The Seminoles (6-4) played without Snaer, a senior guard who averages 14.2 points but sat out as part of what coach Leonard Hamilton called a “discipline issue.”

“I kind of felt like I had to step up a little bit more because he wasn’t out there,” White said. “It was a little bit more pressure.”

White scored 11 of Florida State’s first 17 points but the Seminoles struggled early, turning the ball over 13 times in the first half. The junior forward made 12 of 13 free throws and finished one point shy of his career high, set against Charleston Southern in December 2011.

“Okaro gave us pretty good leadership on the floor,” Hamilton said. “He hit some big free throws. He’s been shooting the ball extremely well.”

Hamilton said Snaer would return to his “regular role” in Florida State’s next game at Charlotte on Saturday.

Trent Mackey had 22 points — making six 3-pointers — and Jayon James added six points and 12 rebounds for Louisiana-Monroe (1-6).

The Warhawks led 18-11 with 8:54 until halftime, but Florida State went on a 15-2 run to pull ahead for good.

Louisiana-Monroe shot 38 percent (19 of 50) from the floor, but other than Mackey they struggled with the 3-pointer. The rest of the Warhawks made 1 of 9 behind the arc.

The Warhawks were also hurt by a season-high 23 turnovers as they played without coach Keith Richard, who was suspended for Monday’s game after being ejected in Louisiana-Monroe’s last game, a 68-39 loss to Southern.

“We had some real costly turnovers at crucial stretches in the game,” Louisiana-Monroe assistant coach Ryan Cross said. “But give Florida State a lot of credit for that. It was tough for us to run our offense. We really had to work every possession.”

Louisiana Tech clips UALR 75-73

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Raheem Appleby scored 17 points and Louisiana Tech held on to beat UALR 75-73 Monday night, giving the Bulldogs a sweep of the nonconference rivalry.

Louisiana Tech only shot 36 percent from the field but connected on 26 free throws in 36 tries and held a 45-33 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs (9-3) also beat the Trojans 70-52 on Nov. 14 in Ruston, La. It was the final nonconference game of the season for both teams.

John Gillon led UALR (8-5) with 15 points and Leroy Isler had 11 points in the Trojans’ first home loss of the season in eight games. UALR shot 45 percent.

The Trojans could have tied it in the final seconds, but James White missed two free throws. UALR got the ball back but Josh Hagins missed a jumper for the tie. Neither team led by double digits in the contest.

Fuller, Vanderbilt top Cornell 66-55

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kyle Fuller scored 17 points to lead Vanderbilt to a 66-55 victory over Cornell on Monday night.

Kedren Johnson added 15 points as the Commodores (5-4) staved off a second-half comeback by the Big Red (4-6).

Fuller and Johnson combined for the team’s first 17 points and Vanderbilt led by as much as 19, 33-14, in the first half.

But when Johnson, Vanderbilt’s leading scorer this season, went to the bench with his fourth foul 58 seconds into the second half, Cornell capitalized. The Big Red ripped off a 14-2 run and cut the deficit to 40-38 on consecutive layups from Eitan Chermerinski with 14:17 left.

Cornell missed its next five shots — all 3-pointers — and Vanderbilt responded with a 12-2 run to take an insurmountable 12-point lead.

No. 12 Missouri beats

South Carolina State 102-51

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Jabari Brown understandably felt nervous Monday night.

Playing in his first game since Nov. 17, 2011, when he was a freshman at Oregon, Brown scored 12 points, helping No. 12 Missouri beat South Carolina State 102-51.

The 6-foot-5, 205-pound guard became eligible at the end of the first semester. He entered the game with 16:01 left in the first half. After a missed 3-pointer, he assisted on a fast-break layup by Negus Webster-Chan. He scored his first points on two free throws with 9:35 remaining.

“It felt weird having a lot of people cheer for me,” Brown said. “But I felt good.”

Alex Oriakhi said his new teammate is more than just a great shooter on the court.

“He’s looking to get other people involved,” Oriakhi said. “On this team, we have a lot of guys that can score the ball. So with him being a passer, along with the rest of us, it makes the team a lot more comfortable to play with each other.”

Missouri (9-1) didn’t need Brown on Monday.

Phil Pressey’s jumper 17 seconds into the game gave the Tigers the lead for good. An 18-2 run midway through the first half provided the team with a 31-11 lead with 5:58 left.

Despite not playing for nine days, the Tigers scored 49 points in the first half, representing the team’s best this season.

Missouri had been shooting 39.6 percent in the opening half for the season before its 18-for-33 performance Monday.

The team did better in the second half, adding 53 points on 23-of-39 shooting, helping Missouri reach the 100-point mark for the first time since Dec. 15, 2011.

“We haven’t been putting two halves together and we have been struggling with starting games off well,” Keion Bell said.

From The Associated Press.