Allgemeines » rward from five wins to nine. But the Cor

ATLANTA -- Cody Zeller couldnt bear the thought of another road loss.We needed this one to finish the road trip, he said. Its been a tough, long road trip for us, but I think it says a lot about our team that we came in here and competed and won a close game.Marvin Williams and Marco Belinelli each scored 19 points, and the Charlotte Hornets snapped a four-game skid with a 107-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.Kemba Walker had 18 points and 10 assists for Charlotte, which grabbed control with a big second quarter. Zeller finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.Tim Hardaway Jr. had 21 points for Atlanta, and Paul Millsap scored 14 of his 20 points in the third quarter. Dwight Howard grabbed a season-high 23 rebounds, three shy of his career best.The Hawks have lost five of six at home and 12 of 16 overall, a freefall since starting the season 9-2 and tying for the Eastern Conference lead.Its frustrating, Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. Were all competitive. We want to win.Millsaps 15-foot jumper gave the Hawks a 95-94 lead with 3:51 remaining, but Belinelli answered with a layup, and the Hornets never trailed again. Williams ended the last trace of a threat, hitting a 3-pointer with 27.8 seconds left to make it a five-point game. Walker set him up with a perfect bounce pass.The whole game plan was to try to contain Kemba, Millsap said. Those other guys got free. Give them credit. They ran their offense and they hit some tough shots.Charlotte ended its five-game road trip, all against Eastern opponents, with a much-needed win. The Hornets started the first quarter 4 of 16, but went on a 30-10 run to take a 12-point lead as the Hawks went cold in the second.Atlanta went on a 13-1 run to pull within four midway through the third, and Hardaway hit a pair of free throws with 7:41 remaining to make it 87-86 for Atlantas first lead since the final minute of the first.Howard and Zeller then had a minor scrape that resulted in technical fouls on both players, and the Hawks lost momentum.TIP-INSHornets: Walker returned after having an excused absence for a personal matter and missing Fridays loss to the Celtics. He has scored in double figures in each of his 27 games. ... The Hornets had lost five straight and 10 of 11 at Philips Arena.Hawks: Hardaway started his fifth straight game for Kent Bazemore, who recently missed two games with a knee injury. Bazemore had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes in his longest time on the court since returning two games ago.SAGER TRIBUTEThe Hawks had a moment of silence before the game for Turner Sports personality Craig Sager, a longtime Atlanta resident who died of leukemia Thursday in his adopted hometown. Sager, an NBA sideline reporter known for his outrageous sport coats and ties, was honored with Amazing Grace on bagpipes and players standing on the court with the house lights down.UP NEXTHornets: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.Hawks: Visit Oklahoma City on Monday. Custom San Diego Padres Jerseys . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. San Diego Padres Store . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. https://www.cheappadresjerseys.us/ . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. Padres Jerseys China . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. Wholesale Padres Jerseys . LOUIS -- St. The Alabama invitational, um, College Football Playoff is set, along with 38 other bowl games big and small.From coaching intrigue to record-setting runs there should be plenty of story lines to follow.---THE PLAYOFFTop-ranked Alabama and Nick Saban are attempting to win an unprecedented fifth national title in eight seasons, including back-to-back for a second time, and add to what can already be considered the greatest run in the history of college football.The Peach Bowl semifinal between the Tide and No. 4 Washington it will also be the first meeting of Saban and Washington coach Chris Petersen, who has an .826 winning percentage since he first became a head coach with Boise State in 2006.Petersens Boise teams were known for upsets. Alabama is a two-touchdown favorite.The Fiesta Bowl semifinal between No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State is a rematch of the 2014 Orange Bowl won by Clemson 40-35. That game completed a late-season meltdown of Ohio States defense that led coach Urban Meyer to make staff and scheme changes that have helped the Buckeyes have one of the top defenses in the country three years running.RUSHING TOWARD A RECORDSan Diego States Donnel Pumphrey needs 108 yards in his final college game against Houston in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 17 to break the FBS career record held by former Wisconsin star and Heisman winner Ron Dayne.The Cougars, led by star freshman defensive lineman Ed Oliver, have one of the best run defenses in the country, allowing 97 yards per game and 2.87 per carry.Pumphrey is the nations second-leading rusher at 155 yards per game.COACHING CAROUSELHouston will go into its bowl game with an interim coach after Tom Herman left for Texas and a few other schools could be in similar situations.- No. 12 Western Michigan is on its way to the biggest bowl game in school history, a matchup with No. 8 Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl, but coach P.J. Fleck has been the subject of much speculation with regards to openings at Purdue and Oregon.- Western Kentucky coach Jeff Brohm has been tied to Purdue and Baylor openings. The Hilltoppers, who have won two straight Conference USA titles, face Memphis on Dec. 20 in the Boca Raton Bowl.- Boise State and Baylor meet Dec. 27 at Cactus Bowl in Phoenix. It will be the last game for Jim Grobe, Baylors acting head coach who took over on short notice after Art Briles was fired in the summer.Broncos coach Bryan Harsin is being mentioned as candidate for Oregon.STYLE CLASHThe best bowls are often the ones between teams that take very different approaches to offense.- Navy will bring its triple-option (averaging 327 yards rushing per game) to the Armed Forces Bowl to face Louisiana Tech, which averages 360 yards passing per game behind quarterback Ryan Higgins.dddddddddddd- Minnesota faces Washington State in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27, but only the Cougars have the pedigree to live up to the bowls high-scoring tradition. Minnesota has thrown eight touchdown passes, tied for 124th in the nation. The Cougars have 39 touchdown passes.- North Carolinas up-tempo offense matches Stanfords plodding, traditional pro-style in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 30.IN NEED OF A STRONG FINISHThe Music City Bowl in Nashville was definitely not what Tennessee (8-4) and coach Butch Jones had in mind this season after the Volunteers beat Florida in September. But here the Vols are facing No. 24 Nebraska (9-3).Not only did the Vols blow a chance to win the SEC East by losing to South Carolina, but they blew a chance to back into the Sugar Bowl by losing to Vanderbilt.On the other side, No. 24 Nebraskas second season under coach Mike Riley was a huge step forward from five wins to nine. But the Cornhuskers were a top-10 team in late October and their best victory of the season was against Minnesota. Getting to 10 wins against a big brand like Tennessee would make a huge difference to how this season is viewed.FINALESA great group of junior running backs could all be playing their final college games.- Christian McCaffrey at Stanford should find some room to run against a North Carolina defense that had trouble stopping teams on the ground late in the season.- No. 19 LSUs Leonard Fournette faces No. 15 Louisville in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31. Fournette has been hampered by an ankle injury but it would be nice to get one more look at him running for the Tigers.And, oh by the way, the Heisman Trophy winner might be on the other side of the field. Cardinal quarterback Lamar Jackson is still the front-runner and would be the first Heisman winner since Johnny Manziel in 2012 to not play in either the playoff or the BCS championship.- No. 10 Florida State against No. 6 Michigan in the Orange Bowl is one of the best bowls outside the playoff and a big part of that is Seminoles star Dalvin Cook.- Pitts James Conner has been one of the best stories in college football, returning from cancer treatment to run for 1,060 yards and score 20 touchdowns. He and the 22nd-ranked Panthers face Northwestern in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 28.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twittre.com/ralphDrussoAP---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '