Saquon Barkley had a heart-to-heart talk with his dad that was more coated in heartbreak than hope over the Philadelphia Eagles running back’s pursuit of the NFL single-season rushing record.

Barkley’s stirring chase of Eric Dickerson was over — he will sit out the Eagles final regular-season game Sunday, denying the running back his chance at breaking the mark.

Barkley will finish the season with 2,005 yards rushing, just 101 yards shy of breaking Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards set with the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.

The Eagles (13-3) clinched the NFC East and the No. 2 seed in the conference, leaving little to play for against the Giants.

Coach Nick Sirianni made the final call — after a pair of conversations with Barkley, players, coaches, general manager Howie Roseman — to give Barkley the week off and not risk potential injury to perhaps their most valuable player and only the ninth running back in NFL history to top 2,000 yards rushing in a season.

Knee injury takes out Packers CB for season

The Green Bay Packers apparently will have to make their entire postseason run without two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur said that Alexander is undergoing surgery to repair the knee injury that has kept the 2018 first-round pick from playing for most of the past two months.

“Most likely, he’s going to be done for the rest of the year,” LaFleur said.

The knee injury first sidelined Alexander for a 24-14 loss to the Detroit Lions on Nov. 3. After the Packers had a week off, Alexander returned for a game at Chicago but played just 10 defensive snaps before the injury sidelined him for the rest of that 20-19 victory.

Alexander hasn’t played since, as he’s missed six straight games.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

No. 1 UCLA women beat Michigan

Kiki Rice scored 16 points to lead five players in double figures and No. 1 UCLA defeated 24th-ranked Michigan 86-70 to complete a sweep of its first Big Ten homestand.

Rice had 10 assists and Lauren Betts had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Bruins (14-0, 3-0 Big Ten), who led the entire game.

Syla Swords led the Wolverines with a career-high 30 points in her return. The standout freshman from Canada didn’t play in a loss at No. 4 USC because of a lower left leg injury she sustained on Dec. 20 against Akron.

Londynn Jones added 13 points, hitting three of her four 3-pointers in the fourth for the Bruins.

No. 23 Iowa women get past Penn State

Taylor McCabe scored 17 points and made five 3-pointers, Hannah Stuelke had 13 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, and No. 23 Iowa beat Penn State 80-68 despite Gabby Elliott ‘s 32-point performance.

Iowa (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) hast won 11 straight against Penn State (9-5, 0-3).

Iowa led 38-36 at halftime and it was tied at 55-all after three quarters before the Hawkeyes pulled away in the fourth by making six straight shots — and nine of their last 12. The Hawkeyes shot 65% from the field in the fourth quarter, making 11 of 17 shots.

Elliott scored 11 of Penn State’s 13 fourth-quarter points and finished 12 of 22 from the floor, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range. Her teammates went 1 of 6 from the field in the fourth with six turnovers.

Addison O’Grady added 16 points and Lucy Olsen had 11 points and five assists for Iowa.

LeBron’s younger son commits to Arizona

Bryce James, son of NBA star LeBron James, is heading to Arizona.

Bryce James announced his decision on Instagram and his father had a quick response.

“CONGRATULATIONS MAXIMUS!!,” LeBron James posted. “SO PROUD OF YOU!!”

Bryce James will be the second of LeBron’s sons to play Division I basketball. Bronny James played one season at USC before turning pro. He was drafted by his father’s team, the Los Angeles Lakers, and they became the first father and son to play together in an NBA game.

A 6-foot-4 shooting guard, Bryce James is rated as a four-star prospect out of Sierra Canyon High School in Chatsworth, California, in the 247 Sports composite. He was invited to the USA Basketball under-17 national team training camp over the summer.

college hockey

Gophers women beat Bemidji St. in Lakeville

The University of Minnesota beat Bemidji State 4-1 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Face-off Classic in Lakeville on Wednesday.

The Beavers started off the scoring with a goal by Kate Johnson just over a minute into the game, but the Gophers did the rest. Natalie Mlynkova added a goal in the first.

After a scoreless second, Ella Huber nabbed the first goal in the third, then Mlynkova added two more, assisted by Huber and Abbey Murphy.

— Staff report

MLB

White Sox get lefty Gilbert from Phillies

The Chicago White Sox acquired left-hander Tyler Gilbert in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Chicago sent minor league right-hander Aaron Combs to Philadelphia for the 31-year-old Gilbert, who had a 3.24 ERA in six relief appearances with the Phillies last season.

Infielder Braden Shewmake was designated for assignment by the White Sox to make room on the team’s 40-man roster. The 27-year-old Shewmake, who was acquired in a trade with Atlanta in November 2023, batted .125 (8 for 64) in 29 games with Chicago last year.

Combs, 23, was selected by the White Sox in the eighth round of the 2024 amateur draft.

TENNIS

Gauff and Fritz put U.S. in United Cup semifinals

Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz powered the U.S., tournament winner two years ago, into the semifinals of the United Cup mixed teams tennis event.

In the first singles match, Gauff had a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over China’s Zhang Shuai. Fritz then made sure of victory for the U.S. by edging Zhang Zhizhen 6-4, 6-4.

The No. 4-ranked Fritz said he didn’t want to let Gauff down.

“There was a little bit of pressure because I didn’t want to be the one who loses it for the team after Coco won all her matches this week,” he said.

— From news services