Ravens WR Smith likely to retire after Sunday’s game

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Steve Smith sounds like a man who’s ready to close the door on an NFL career that has spanned 16 seasons and taken him well beyond his 37th birthday.

“Whether you want to or not, you’ve got to move on,” Smith said Wednesday. “It’s part of life. The world still turns.”

The five-time Pro Bowl receiver will play in his 230th NFL game Sunday when the Baltimore Ravens finish the season against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Standing in front of the media wearing a Darth Vader costume, Smith said he’s “about 89 percent sure” it will mark the end of his stellar career.

He used that number because he wears No. 89.

Though Smith spoke with deep emotion during his 10-minute session, he did not formally announce his retirement. He already did that once before, prior to the 2015 season, but ended up changing his mind after tearing his Achilles tendon in Week 7.

Russell Athletic Bowl

Miami 31

(14) West Virginia 14

ORLANDO, Fla. — Brad Kaaya tied a career best and Miami bowl record with four touchdown passes, and the Hurricanes finally snapped a 10-year bowl drought by beating No. 14 West Virginia 31-14 in the Russell Athletic Bowl on Wednesday night.

Kaaya completed 24 of 34 passes for 282 yards for Miami (9-4), which had lost its last six bowl appearances. Kaaya already held Miami’s career record in yards and took over the school’s No. 1 spots in completions and attempts.

Kaaya was selected the game MVP.

The Hurricanes punted on their first six possessions, then scored on their next five to erase an awful start. Kaaya connected with Ahmmon Richards, Malcolm Lewis and Braxton Berrios for touchdowns in the final 6:30 of the first half to get Miami rolling, and then found David Njoku for another touchdown on the first possession of the second half.

Pinstripe Bowl

Northwestern 31

(22) Pittsburgh 24

NEW YORK — Justin Jackson ran for 226 yards and three touchdowns and powered Northwestern to only its third bowl victory, 31-24 over No. 22 Pittsburgh in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night.

Jackson was the straw that stirred Northwestern’s offense in the Bronx and helped etch this performance alongside the 1948 Rose Bowl and 2012 Gator Bowl victories in the program’s oft-futile history.

He had TD runs of 8 and 16 yards in the second quarter, then went deep on a 40-yard burst in the third that left one defender face down on the turf following a fantastic fake and gave the Wildcats (7-6) a 21-17 lead.

Rallying without injured quarterback Nathan Peterman and running back James Conner, Pitt yanked the lead away in the fourth on a short TD pass before it collapsed the rest of the quarter.

(1) Villanova 68

DePaul 65

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Josh Hart scored 25 points and Jalen Brunson added 13 as No. 1 Villanova barely held off DePaul, 68-65 on Wednesday night, the Wildcats’ 19th straight win.

The Wildcats (13-0, 1-0 Big East) looked rather pedestrian playing for the first time in a week. But thanks to Hart, considered among the favorites for national player of the year, they survived.

A 14-6 Villanova run gave the Wildcats a 51-39 lead with 16:41 to go. But the Blue Demons responded with a 14-0 run to get back in the game and take a 53-51 lead.

From there Hart made sure the Wildcats remained undefeated and their home winning streak reached 44 games.

The senior swingman scored 10 points in the final 3:06, including a dagger 3-pointer from the top of the key with 9.5 seconds left that gave Villanova a 66-62 lead.

(9) North Carolina 102

Monmouth 74

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Justin Jackson scored 28 points and No. 9 North Carolina beat Monmouth 102-74 on Wednesday night.

Kennedy Meeks added 17 points and 12 rebounds and Isaiah Hicks finished with 15 points to help the Tar Heels (12-2) win their second straight.

Micah Seaborn scored 19 points and Je’Lon Hornbeak added 17 before fouling out for Monmouth (10-3), which had its program-record nine-game winning streak snapped.

Jackson was 9 of 15 from the field in the second-highest-scoring game of his career — surpassed only by his 34-point performance against Kentucky . His six 3-pointers were one shy of the career high he set earlier this month against Davidson. The Tar Heels led by double figures for all but a few seconds of the second half but didn’t completely pull away from the pesky Hawks until Monmouth was whistled for three technical fouls in a 55-second span. One of those was called on coach King Rice — the starting point guard on North Carolina’s Final Four team in 1991.

(12) Virginia 61

(6) Louisville 53

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Devon Hall scored 10 points and Kyle Guy added a key jumper with 2:02 remaining as No. 12 Virginia withstood a late rally to upset No. 6 Louisville 61-53 on Wednesday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both schools.

The Cavaliers (11-1, 1-0) seemed headed to another lopsided win over Louisville before the Cardinals rallied from a 21-point second-half deficit to get within 57-48 with 3:51 left. Guy’s basket regained momentum for Virginia, which got two free throws from Mamadi Diakite with 28 seconds left to seal its fourth straight win overall and fourth in five games against Louisville (11-2, 0-1). He had nine points.

Hall made 5 of 10 from the field to lead the Cavaliers, whose strong shooting built the big lead before they cooled off to finish at 49 percent. Jack Salt had seven rebounds as Virginia outrebounded the Cardinals 31-26.

Nebraska 87

(16) Indiana 83

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Glynn Watson Jr. scored 26 points and Tai Webster had 21 Wednesday night, leading Nebraska to a stunning 87-83 upset of No. 16 Indiana.

The Cornhuskers (7-6, 1-0) snapped Indiana’s 26-game home winning streak by finishing with their highest point total of the season in the Big Ten opener for both.

Indiana’s last loss at Assembly Hall was to Michigan State on March 7, 2015.

Robert Johnson finished with 19 points and Thomas Bryant had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Hoosiers (10-3, 0-1).

Indiana appeared to have seized control when it took a 42-35 lead early in the second half.

(17) Xavier 82

Providence 56

CINCINNATI — Trevon Bluiett scored 22 points on Wednesday night, and No. 17 Xavier took control at the outset and pulled away to an 82-56 victory over Providence in their Big East opener.

Xavier (11-2, 1-0) surged ahead by as many as 30 points, with Bluiett leading the way. He had nine rebounds to go with his eighth 20-point game of the season. Edmond Sumner added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Isaiah Jackson had 17 points for the Friars (10-4, 0-1) in their most lopsided loss of the season.

Xavier took control with an early 16-2 run and pushed the lead to 25 points early in the second half.

(20) Florida St. 88

Wake Forest 72

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes scored 23 points apiece as No. 20 Florida State opened Atlantic Coast Conference play with an 88-72 victory over Wake Forest on Wednesday.

Florida State trailed most of the game and was down 66-61 before it went on a run of 17 straight points over a 4:02 span. The Seminoles made seven straight shots from the field during the run while the Demon Deacons committed four turnovers.

Jonathan Isaac added 13 points and CJ Walker had 12 for Florida State (12-1, 1-0), which has won nine straight for the first time since 2003-04 and is off to its best start since going 16-1 in 1988-89.

Keyshawn Woods and Bryant Crawford led the Demon Deacons (9-3, 0-1) with 16 each.

(24) Notre Dame 63

Saint Peter’s 55

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — V.J. Beachem scored 18 points to help No. 24 Notre Dame close out its non-conference schedule with a 63-55 victory over Saint Peter’s on Wednesday night.

Steve Vasturia added 11 points for the Irish (11-2), who were looking for a more complete effort, but were outscored in the second half for the fifth straight game.

The Irish finished 22 points below their average of 85.3, but held the Peacocks to 35.7 percent shooting from the field.

Bonzie Colson finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for Notre Dame.

From wire reports