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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Ken Boyer . -- Alabama coach Nick Saban and the football team are moving on. Saban has put to rest the speculation that he would replace Mack Brown at Texas by striking a new deal with Alabama. For the third-ranked Crimson Tide, the focus is on getting over the loss to Auburn and trying to finish the season strong in the Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl against No. 11 Oklahoma. Saban had said Friday night after agreeing to a new contract reportedly worth about $7 million a year that he planned to retire at Alabama. He said "there were no talks" between his representatives and Texas and pointed to comments on ESPN that he "never considered going to Texas." "I think Ive already made a reaction to that," Saban said. "Dont you watch ESPN? Didnt you see what they put down across the bottom line. Thats my reaction to it. "I dont have any more reactions to it. I think its kind of over so why do we want to talk about that? We look forward. Im looking forward. I made a commitment to our players that are here and Im happy to be committed to them and I want them to make the same kind of commitment to the program and to their future success." Brown announced his resignation at Texas on Saturday. Several Texas regents and a former regent were involved in a meeting with Sabans agent last January to gauge the coachs interest in coming to Texas. Saban found the best way to quash that talk: Re-upping with the Tide. Receiver Kevin Norwood never doubted it. "I went home for the break or whatever, and everybody was basically talking about it," Norwood said. "And I was like, Coach Saban is not going anywhere. And whatever social media was saying, whatever was happening after that, I pretty much ignored it." Alabama (11-1) returned to the practice field on Tuesday for the first time since the Iron Bowl. The game was tied until Chris Davis returned a missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown on the final play to effectively end Alabamas bid for a third straight national championship. Now, the team is gearing up for a bowl trip that would be a prize for most teams, but could be viewed as a disappointment for the Tide. "Were fired up playing Oklahoma," defensive end Jeoffrey Pagan said. "Its not for a national championship or anything, but were going to go into it like it is. "Were going to try to finish this season as strong as possible." Left tackle Cyrus Kouandjio said Saban brought up the 2008 season when the Tide fell to Florida in the SEC championship game and to Utah in the Sugar Bowl. "He was like we shouldnt let this loss bring us down to the point where we just keep hang-dogging and keep our heads down going into the game and lose that game, too," Kouandjio said. On the field, Saban said guard Anthony Steen will miss the bowl game after having shoulder surgery. Off the field, the coach had more to celebrate than even his new contract. His son, Nicholas, and daughter-in-law had a baby on Sunday. The sometimes gruff Saban lit up talking about the experience that got him to the hospital in the wee hours. "To have a healthy baby and a healthy mother and someone that beautiful come into your family is really something that you have to count your blessings on," he said. "They actually had a rocking chair over there so I was kind of happy rocking that baby a little bit. Since then, I havent been able to go back. "I kind of miss the little bugger if you want to know the truth about it." TIDE BITS: Former Southern California and Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin, a onetime rival, has been visiting with Tide coaches this week in Tuscaloosa. Its a common practice for Alabama -- even Oklahomas staff has come to town -- and Saban said hes not sure why that would cause any stir. "Lane is a really good offensive coach, and Ive always had a tremendous amount of respect for him," Saban said. "Just to come in and brainstorm a little bit just some professional ideas with our guys, I think, is a real positive thing. And I dont know why theres any reaction to it. Im really quite surprised." Randy Arozarena . Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon; a brief, poor outing that served to highlight two trends that have developed this season. Custom Cardinals T-shirts . LUCIE, Fla.CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Lance Stephenson was back at his trash-talking best — this time against his old team.Stephenson jawed most of the game with former teammate Roy Hibbert and even intentionally knocked the 7-foot-2, 275-pound centre to the floor as the two were running up the court.Both later downplayed the shove.In the end, Stephenson got the best of his former teammates, as the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Indiana Pacers 80-71 in overtime on Saturday night. Gerald Henderson had 20 points to lead the Hornets while Stephenson, in his second game since returning from a pelvic sprain, added 13 off the bench.The shove came with two minutes remaining in the third quarter after Hibbert blocked Stephenson on a drive to the hole. After Stephenson argued for a foul that wasnt called, he body-checked Hibbert to the floor.Officials had already retreated to the opposite end and didnt see what happened. No foul was called.I didnt hit (Hibbert) that hard, Stephenson said with a laugh. He flopped. You know I cant knock down big Roy, cmon now.Hibbert joked after the game that it appears Stephenson has been lifting a lot of weights.He got a lot stronger, Hibbert said.He said there are no hard feelings and that he and Stephenson used to jaw at each other all of the time in practice. Stephenson spent four years in Indiana before signing with the Hornets this past off-season.It wasnt anything malicious or anything, Hibbert said. Hes a good friend. Please dont blow it up. Seriously, its nothing.Other than the shove, the game itself was fairly forgettable — and at times tough to watch.The combined 151 points were the fewest in an overtime game in the shot-clock era, according to STATS. The Hornets won shooting 30.7 per cent and the Pacers had 20 turnovers.That obviously wont be on ESPN Classic, Hornets coach Steve Clifford said.Still, it was a big win for the Hornets, who are battling for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference despite a 16-25 record.Charlotte also showed it could win despite playing without its top two scorers in Al JJefferson and Kemba Walker. Roger Maris. .The Hornets clearly missed Walker running the point.He was red hot before being sidelined with a cyst in his left knee, averaging 29.8 points per game over the last six. Charlotte struggled getting into its offensive sets and looked out of sync under the direction of point guard Brian Roberts.Charlotte has won six of its last seven games despite also being without Jefferson, who has missed eight games because of a groin injury and is still a couple of weeks away from returning.David West had 19 points for the Pacers, who were 1 of 9 from the field in overtime.Henderson missed a 20-footer at the end of regulation that would have won the game.But it was all Hornets in overtime, as they outscored the Pacers 12-3 and held them scoreless for more than four minutes.Clifford took Stephenson out of the game with 6:34 left in regulation and the Hornets trailing 61-55 — even though he was leading the team in scoring at the time with 13.With Stephenson on one knee beside the bench urging his team on, the Hornets stormed back to the take the lead 68-66 when Williams buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 51 seconds left in regulation.I definitely wanted to win because we lost at their house earlier this year, Stephenson said.He has been the subject of repeated trade rumours in recent weeks.I have tried to keep a level head and dont worry about that and just play hard, Stephenson said.TIP-INSPacers: Hibbert had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the 100th double-double of his career.Hornets: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 16 rebounds for Charlotte and Bismack Biyombo had 14.KEMBAS STATUS:Clifford said Walkers knee injury is something that could linger. It is one of those things (where) its the ultimate day-to-day, Clifford said. Its something that hed had for a while. From what I understand, he can come in (Sunday) and be fine or it could be longer. I dont think there is any real way to determine that.UP NEXTPacers: Visit Houston on Monday.Hornets: Host Minnesota on Monday. ' ' '
- Created: Mar 10 '20
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