Beating the top-ranked team in the country last week didn’t give Connecticut much momentum to build on.

One game after upsetting Texas to reclaim a spot in the rankings, the Huskies fell to Providence 81-66 on Wednesday night when Jamine Peterson had 23 points and 14 rebounds.

Peterson scored eight of the Friars’ 14 straight points as they completed their comeback from a 10-point, first-half deficit.

“We just took our foot off the gas. We thought that we had the game won already,” said UConn forward Gavin Edwards, who scored 17 points. “Everybody was just resting on their laurels from the Texas game, and as a result, nobody really came out to play, and we got beat.”

The second-half collapse was all-too familiar to Providence (12-8, 4-4 Big East), which led South Florida by 12 with 2:05 left on Saturday night before losing in overtime. But this time the Friars were on the other end, and the crowd at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center celebrated by storming the court even as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker scheduled surgery for next week to repair the knee he blew out in the final regular-season game against the Houston Texans.

A league source told The Boston Globe that Welker will undergo the procedure next Tuesday at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Welker tore both the medial collateral ligament and anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee making a cut after catching a pass. The MCL did not need surgery, so he let that heal before having a procedure on the ACL.

“We’re just taking our time right now,” Welker told Jim Traber during a radio interview in Oklahoma City, Welker’s hometown, last week. “That’s one thing — we’ve got a little bit of time right now to wait on that to heal and just kind of get ready and make sure that we exhaust all the options and find out the best one for myself to give me the best chance to get back out there on the field.”

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

The Buffalo Bills have hired former Dallas Cowboys and Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey as their new coach, a team source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

The team announced it would hold a news conference at its facility in Orchard Park, N.Y. at 2 p.m. ET.

The Bills are said to be impressed with how Gailey has brought teams to the playoffs with quarterbacks such as Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart and Jay Fiedler. In fact, Bill Cowher — whom the Bills had been courting to replace the fired Dick Jauron — highly recommended Gailey to the Bills.

Cowher planned to make Gailey his assistant head coach/offensive coordinator if he came back. Gailey has coached in four Super Bowls and has had his teams go to the playoffs in 11 of his 15 NFL seasons.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com