BOYS
BISHOP LEBLOND HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT – 3RD PLACE GAME
Mid-Buchanan 59, Bishop LeBlond 55
NEOSHO HOLIDAY CLASSIC – SEMIFINALS
Lafayette 59, Ridgeway (TN) 54
GIRLS
BISHOP LEBLOND HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT – CHAMPIONSHIP
East Buchanan 38, Bishop LeBlond 36
NEOSHO HOLIDAY CLASSIC – CONSOLATION
Lafayette 47, Providence Academy (AR) 27
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Oklahoma State’s Phil Forte III and Le’Bryan Nash scored 21 points, including all 12 of the Cowboys’ points in overtime, lifting them to a 74-72 victory over Missouri on Tuesday night.
Anthony Hickey Jr. added 12 points for the Cowboys (10-2), who rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit and then had to withstand the Tigers’ own feverish comebacks.
Missouri (5-7) had a chance to take the lead late in overtime, but Tramaine Isabell — whose 3-pointer with 2-tenths of a second left forced overtime — turned the ball over.
Nash made two fouls shots with 5.4 seconds to go, and Oklahoma State fouled to prevent the Tigers from getting off another tying 3. Johnathan Williams III made the first of two free throws with 3 seconds left, and missed the second intentionally.
A tying floater bounced over the rim and harmlessly to the floor.
— Associated Press —
LAWRENCE, Kansas (AP) — With all else failing on offense for Kansas, Kelly Oubre Jr. took control of the game.
Oubre scored 20 points and No. 13 Kansas beat Kent State 78-62 on Tuesday night.
“I just got into a rhythm early,” Oubre said. “I was just playing in the confines of the game.”
He started out hitting his first six shots, including all four of his 3-pointers.
“He absolutely carried us in the first 10 minutes of the game,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
This was the second game in the last three where Oubre scored at least 20 points. He had 23 in Kansas’ win over Lafayette on Dec. 20. With the near back-to-back performances, Self said Oubre solidified his starting position.
“Oubre, who I know didn’t start early in the year, he was unbelievable in the first half,” Kent State coach Rob Senderoff said.” I’m sure he’s just scratching the surface.”
Perry Ellis added 15 for Kansas (10-2). Blunders and bloopers were evident early for Kansas. On the first possession of the game, Oubre turned the ball over. Wayne Selden Jr. missed a dunk. The entire team ended up on the floor going after a loose ball.
“I thought the first half, the first 12 minutes, we didn’t play very well at all,” Self said.
Everyone but Oubre had shooting woes. Excluding the freshman’s perfect first half, Kansas was 10 of 30.
When the Golden Flashes were called for a foul, the Jayhawks only made 3 of 8 free throws. Kent State wasn’t any better. They only shot 25 percent from the line.
Some of the woes continued after intermission for each team.
Kansas allowed five offensive rebounds for Kent State in the second half along with six-second chance points. Kansas also had eight turnovers in the half.
When Allen Fieldhouse was starting to grow quiet, Cliff Alexander dunked life into the crowd. He scored six-straight points in 58 seconds and helped guide a 12-2 run that put Kansas up by 21 points.
“Cliff’s playing like how Cliff plays,” Oubre said. “Every time Cliff’s in the game it pumps us up because he’s getting rebounds, dunks. Everything he does is really athletic. That’s what he does.”
Kent State tried charging back in the final four minutes, but the deficit was too big.
“I didn’t think our shot selection was great,” Kent State coach Rob Senderoff said. “We fouled a little bit too much, we couldn’t get enough rebounds.”
Three of Kent State’s final points of the game came off a 3-pointer from Blake Vedder, a 7-foot-4 center.
The final basket of the game was a breakaway layup from Tyler Self, the son of coach Self. It was his first of the season. Self joked about how his son went up with his right hand on the left side of the basket.
“It was good that somebody off our scout team made a basket,” Self said.
Jimmy Hall scored 13 points and eight rebounds, and Khaliq Spicer added 11 points and five rebounds for Kent State (8-4).
TIP-INS
Kansas: Oubre scored 11 points in 6:23, being the fastest Jayhawk to 10 points on the season.
Kent State last came to Allen Fieldhouse in Feb. 2008, where Kansas won 87-68.
UP NEXT
Kansas hosts UNLV on Sunday.
Kent State hosts Texas-Pan American on Friday.
STAR POWER
Freshman guard Devonte’ Graham saw the doctor Tuesday for his turf toe injury he sustained on Dec. 10. He was allowed toss the walking boot. Coach Self said there is no current prognosis on Graham, other than he is moving in a positive direction.
— Associated Press —
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Royals outfielder Alex Gordon has had surgery on his right wrist, and the four-time Gold Glove winner should be ready for the season opener against the White Sox on April 6.
The surgery, an extensor retinaculum repair, was performed by Dr. Bruce Toby at the University of Kansas Hospital on Tuesday. It is not yet clear when Gordon will be able to start in spring training.
Royals trainer Nick Kenney says in a statement that Gordon reached out to the team about some wrist discomfort last week. Gordon traveled to Kansas City and underwent testing, and the surgery was scheduled immediately so that he would be ready for the upcoming season.
Gordon dealt with pain in the same wrist midway through last season but did not miss significant playing time. He aggravated the injury during his winter training sessions.
JANIE McCAULEY, AP Baseball Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who dominated the baseball postseason, is The Associated Press 2014 Male Athlete of the Year.
Bumgarner finished first in a vote by U.S. editors and news directors. He beat out Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw — who won the National League Cy Young and MVP but lost to Bumgarner’s Giants in the playoffs. Retiring New York Yankees star Derek Jeter and golfer Rory McIlroy tied for third place.
The 25-year-old workhorse known as MadBum clinched the award when — on two days’ rest — he pitched five scoreless innings of relief in Game 7 of the World Series as the Giants beat Kansas City 3-2 to win their third championship in five years.
BOYS
BISHOP LEBLOND HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT – SEMIFINALS
East Buchanan 55, Bishop LeBlond 51
NEOSHO HOLIDAY CLASSIC – 1ST ROUND
Lafayette 66, Oklahoma City Centennial 52
GIRLS
JEFFERSON CITY STATE FARM HOLIDAY HOOPS – CHAMPIONSHIP
Hickman 65, Benton 59
BISHOP LEBLOND HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT – SEMIFINALS
Bishop LeBlond 47, Plattsburg 36
NEOSHO HOLIDAY CLASSIC – 1ST ROUND
McDonald County 49, Lafayette 46
DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals have announced the signing of right-hander Edinson Volquez to a $20 million, two-year contract that includes a mutual option for the 2017 season.
Volquez will make $7.5 million in 2015 and $9.5 million in 2016 under the deal announced Monday. His option year is worth $10 million with a $3 million buyout.
Volquez fills the last big hole by taking James Shields’ spot in the rotation. Shields became a free agent and it was unlikely the Royals would be able to keep him.
The Royals have already signed designated hitter Kendrys Morales and outfielder Alex Rios to fill two of their other pressing needs. They also signed pitcher Kris Medlen, who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and could help contribute midway through the season.
The Associated Press
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 28, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Kentucky (65) | 13-0 | 1,625 | 1 |
| 2. Duke | 10-0 | 1,559 | 2 |
| 3. Virginia | 11-0 | 1,457 | 5 |
| 4. Wisconsin | 12-1 | 1,395 | 6 |
| 5. Louisville | 11-1 | 1,327 | 4 |
| 6. Villanova | 12-0 | 1,316 | 7 |
| 7. Gonzaga | 12-1 | 1,249 | 8 |
| 8. Arizona | 12-1 | 1,243 | 3 |
| 9. Iowa St. | 9-1 | 1,005 | 12 |
| 10. Utah | 9-2 | 956 | 14 |
| 11. Texas | 10-2 | 903 | 9 |
| 12. Maryland | 12-1 | 869 | 15 |
| 13. Kansas | 9-2 | 775 | 10 |
| 14. Notre Dame | 12-1 | 709 | 16 |
| 15. St. John’s | 11-1 | 690 | 17 |
| 16. Wichita St. | 10-2 | 630 | 11 |
| 17. West Virginia | 11-1 | 584 | 18 |
| 18. Oklahoma | 8-3 | 530 | 19 |
| 19. North Carolina | 9-3 | 483 | 20 |
| 20. Ohio St. | 11-2 | 435 | 21 |
| 21. Washington | 11-1 | 253 | 13 |
| 22. Baylor | 10-1 | 238 | 22 |
| 23. N. Iowa | 11-1 | 216 | 23 |
| 24. Colorado St. | 13-0 | 194 | 24 |
| 25. Georgetown | 8-3 | 140 | — |
Others receiving votes: TCU 132, VCU 101, San Diego St. 40, Arkansas 27, George Washington 7, LSU 7, Old Dominion 7, Penn St. 5, UNLV 5, Indiana 4, Florida 2, Minnesota 2, Stanford 2, Army 1, California 1, Davidson 1.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — In a world of smartphones, text messages and Twitter, there’s a good chance that just about everybody inside Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday knew about the Chiefs’ precarious postseason position.
Well, except for the Chiefs.
Even as they were knocking the San Diego Chargers from contention with a 19-7 victory, they refused to ask about what was transpiring elsewhere.
It was only later that they learned just how close they were to hitting on a three-team parlay — Baltimore getting beat by Cleveland and Houston losing to Jacksonville — that would have gotten them into the playoffs.
“Nobody knew. Nobody wanted to know,” said the Chiefs’ Chase Daniel, who started in place of injured quarterback Alex Smith. “We were focused on the game at hand, the task at hand.”
By the time the Chiefs got to their locker room, though, they knew: The Ravens and Texans both rallied in the second half for victories, giving Baltimore the final AFC wild-card spot.
“We end up missing the playoffs,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, “so while it’s fresh in the players’ minds, it’s important that they feel how important every game is in this league. There’s so much parity in the league and these games are so close.”
The playoff disappointment overshadowed plenty of positives Sunday.
Justin Houston had four sacks for the Chiefs (9-7) to break Derrick Thomas’ franchise record with 22 in the season. Cairo Santos kicked four field goals, and Daniel played serviceably in just his second NFL start, throwing for 157 yards without an interception.
The Chiefs’ only touchdown came when wide receiver Dwayne Bowe fumbled inches shy of the goal line early in the second quarter. Tight end Travis Kelce recovered in the end zone, not only giving Kansas City a 10-0 lead, but keeping a dubious streak intact: No Chiefs wide receiver caught a TD pass all season, the first time in at least 50 years that has happened.
“I honestly didn’t pay attention to that. I wanted to win,” Houston said of his record. “I felt like everything was going to work out in our favor if we won, we’d be in the playoffs.”
The Chargers (9-7) never really gave themselves a chance at the playoffs.
Nick Novak missed a 52-yard field goal attempt late in the third quarter. Midway through the fourth, a touchdown pass to Eddie Royal was overturned by a video review when the ball appeared to skip off the turf — San Diego went for it on fourth down and Philip Rivers threw incomplete. Then with about 4 minutes left, Donald Brown was stuffed on fourth-and-1 at the Chiefs 20.
Rivers was intercepted for a second time in the closing seconds of the game.
“Very disappointed the way we played,” Chargers coach Mike McCoy said. “Got off to a poor start, put ourselves in a number of holes. Too many penalties, not converting on third down.
“That was nowhere close to where we needed it to be.”
Rivers finished with 291 yards passing to go over 4,000 in a season for the sixth time, though he also threw two interceptions. Branden Oliver ran for 71 yards and a touchdown.
“They were better than us,” offensive lineman Chad Rinehart said, “and obviously it showed.”
In many ways, injuries crippled San Diego’s postseason hopes.
After starting the game without running back Ryan Mathews, wide receiver Keenan Allen and center Chris Watt, the banged-up Chargers watched right tackle D.J. Fluker walk slowly to the locker room late in the first half. He joined safety Marcus Gilchrist (elbow), cornerback Shareece Wright (head injury) and wide receiver Eddie Royal, who got hurt late in the game.
Injuries also took their toll on the Chiefs, who were 7-3 at one point this season.
Still, after weathering so much adversity, they still had a shot at the playoffs when the fourth quarter rolled around. They had already built a 19-7 lead, Cleveland was clinging to a 10-3 lead over Baltimore and three-win Jacksonville was leading Houston 17-14.
If all three scores had held, the Chiefs would have claimed the final wild-card spot.
Instead, the Texans took the lead a few minutes later. So did the Ravens. And when both held on, Kansas City joined San Diego in heading into the offseason.
“One thing you learn from it is when you’ve got it in your hands to control, you lock it down, so you don’t let that part get away, ever,” Reid said, “and from a coaching standpoint and a player standpoint, we didn’t get that done.”
Game notes
Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles ran for 54 yards, going over 1,000 for the season. … The Chiefs had seven sacks. … Rivers fell to 34-9 in regular-season games played in December and January. … Trevor Robinson became the fifth player to start at center for San Diego this season. … The Chargers allowed 111 yards rushing, one week after giving up 355 vs San Francisco.
— Associated Press —
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Less than a second was all it took.
That’s all Texas Southern needed to turn a two-point deficit into 58-56 win over Kansas State on Sunday.
Chris Thomas’ offensive rebound and putback tied it at 56 with 0.9 seconds left and, after Kansas State threw the inbounds pass away, Jason Carter hit a jumper as time expired, giving the Tigers their second win over 2014 NCAA tournament teams in eight days. Texas Southern beat then-No. 25 Michigan State 71-64 on Dec. 20.
“I did not see it coming,” Carter said. “I just got the ball and finished the play. It was just a lucky shot.”
A three-point play by Thomas Gipson and a layup by Marcus Foster gave Kansas State (8-4) a 54-48 lead with 1:45 remaining.
Chris Thomas made a layup to pull Texas Southern (3-9) within four. After Gipson made a free throw, a layup by Madarious Gibbs made it 55-52 with 16 seconds left.
A free throw by Nino Williams pushed the Kansas State lead back to four. Tonnie Collier made the first two of three free throws and Thomas put back the third to tie the game at 56 with .9 seconds to play.
After Jevon Thomas threw the inbounds pass away, Texas Southern got the ball out of bounds, setting up Carter’s winner.
Kansas State made 2 of 8 free throws in the final 69 seconds.
“We did not have any energy,” Gipson said. “That is where we lost it. I am pretty sure if people had energy, they would step up and make their free throws with confidence. I obviously did not, JT (Jevon Thomas) did not, and other people did not so that is what happens.”
Thomas and Gibbs scored 15 apiece for Texas Southern.
Marcus Foster had 17 points and three assists, Nino Williams added 11 points and five rebounds for Kansas State, which darted out to a 9-0 lead in the first 4 minutes. For the majority of the first half it was all Wildcats, led by Foster and his trio of 3s.
“We had a good start to the game and the 9-2, 15-5 start,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “We had some turnovers and had some times we let them get some rebounds and allow them to get their heads up. We were still grinding it out at half time. We knew it was going to be a low scoring game. We fought and had the game won, but some crazy things happened at the end.”
After making 2 of 9 shots to start the game, Texas Southern trailed by as many as 11 before closing the first half with an 8-3 run. The Tigers trailed 23-31 at halftime.
“I thought they came out that first part of the game and put us on our heels,” Texas Southern coach Mike Davis said. “We settled down, moved the ball and played with a good tempo.”
A three-point play by Thomas with 17:32 to play gave the Tigers their first lead of the game, 28-27.
A jumper by Gibbs gave Texas Southern its biggest lead of the game, 43-36, midway through the second half, but Kansas State scored 12 in a row and didn’t trail again until Carter’s buzzer-beater.
—
TIP-INS
Kansas State: The Wildcats are 71-4 at home during nonconference play since 2006-07.
Texas Southern: The Tigers are 1-1 on the season against Big 12 opponents. Texas Southern lost to Baylor back on Dec. 1.
UP NEXT
Kansas State hosts Georgia on Wednesday.
Texas Southern hosts New Mexico State on Tuesday.
QUOTABLE
“We were up 9-0, then the first media time out, and after that we were just drained. I think we were drunk emotionally, drunk on emotion.”- Nino Williams.
— Associated Press —
