The Athenaeum Forum

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Georges Niang walked off the floor in the closing minutes with a bloody towel pressed tightly to his forehead, pumping his fist and riling up the Iowa State fans in the Sprint Center. Turns out he was just jumpstarting the celebration. Niang scored 25 points before leaving with that gash above his right eye, and the No. 16 Cyclones held on down the stretch to beat No. 10 Kansas 94-83 Friday night and reach their first Big 12 tournament title game since 2000. "We love competing for championships," Niang said later, a bandage over his wound. "Coach says take it one day at a time, but the Big 12 championship is one day away from us." DeAndre Kane had five 3-pointers and scored 20 points, and Big 12 player of the year Melvin Ejim added 19 points for the fourth-seeded Cyclones (25-8), who will play for just their second tournament title Saturday night against the winner of Texas-Baylor. The victory for Iowa State represented its first in four tries against Kansas in the Big 12 tournament, and its first over the Jayhawks in Kansas City since March 10, 1996, when the schools were still part of the Big Eight. It also allowed Iowa State to match its 2001 team for the second-most wins in school history, trailing only the 32 wins piled up by the 2000 team. Incidentally, it was that team that won the Cyclones only Big 12 tournament title. "Its a great win for us, for the fact it gives us confidence we can compete with anyone in the nation," Cyclones coach Fred Hoiberg said. "It was good to finally get one of these after struggling to close out games against Kansas the past few years." Relying on some hot outside shooting, Iowa State took charge in the second half, and then held on as the top-seeded Jayhawks (24-9) tried to make a late run to get back into the game. Perry Ellis led Kansas with 30 points. Andrew Wiggins finished with 22. The Jayhawks again were playing without 7-footer Joel Embiid, the leagues defensive player of the year, and his rim-protecting presence was sorely missed. The freshman has a stress fracture in his back and is likely out until at least the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. "Joel not being in there, he could probably guard Niang better," Kansas coach Bill Self said, "but I think it was more a collection of everybody rather than just one individual." The Sprint Center was packed to the rafters with fans eager to see whether Iowa State could finally end its five-game losing streak against the Jayhawks, or whether Kansas could burnish what it hoped would be a resume worthy of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The teams got after it right from the tip, racing up and down the floor in what amounted to a series of 94-foot wind sprints. Iowa State got the better of it early, forging a 23-16 lead, but the Jayhawks countered with a brutally efficient 20-3 charge to take control. Things got so intense that the normally placid Hoiberg was rung up with a technical foul after Kane appeared to be hammered on the way to the basket and no foul was called. "I used a bad word," Hoiberg said sheepishly. "Im not going to say I didnt." The Jayhawks lead was also short-lived. Kane started the comeback by converting a three-point play, Ejim and Niang went to work inside, and the Cyclones tied it 46-all in the closing minutes of the first half when Kane knocked down another shot from the corner. Their hot perimeter shooting continued in the second half, when the Cyclones turned a 48-46 deficit into a 66-57 lead, the last points in the run on a deep ball from Naz Long. By that point, Iowa State was 11 of 16 from the 3-point line. "We were on our heels defensively throughout the game," Ellis said. "I felt in the first half we did a lot better. In the second half, we let too many straight-line drives to the basket." The Jayhawks eventually extended their defence to the perimeter, and thats when Iowa State started going to the basket again. Niang scored four straight baskets for Iowa State during one stretch that made it 81-72, and scored on three straight trips to make it 86-74. The lead never got much smaller, even after Niang was whacked in the face during a scrum under the basket, prompting him to start the party for the Iowa State fans in attendance. "We felt like we had these guys in the second half," Niang said. "We came out and threw the first punch and from there it was clear skies." Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. Getting Creative The Pittsburgh Penguins will try their best to acquire Ryan Kesler from the Vancouver Canucks before the Trade Deadline. Jarvis Jenkins Jersey . 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Jays legends Jimmy Key and Ernie Whitt, members of playoff and World Series-winning teams of the past, will be on hand for the festivities to look back at what was the beginning of the Jays halcyon years.QUEBEC -- Jan Kostalek scored twice, including 46 seconds into overtime, as the Rimouski Oceanic extended their win streak to 16 games by defeating the Quebec Remparts 4-3 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Felix-Antoine Savage and Tyler Boland also scored for the Oceanic (45-15-7) and Philippe Desrosiers made 22 saves for the victory. Adam Chapman forced overtime for the Remparts (38-17-12) when he scored at 19:47 of the third period while playing 6-on-5. Olivier Archambault and Nick Sorensen also scored for Quebec while Francois Brassard turned away 29-of-33 shots in defeat. --- TITAN 3 ISLANDERS 1 CHARLOTTETOWN -- Jacob Brennan made 36 saves as Acadie-Bathurst handed the Islanders their third straight defeat. Mark Trickett, Raphael Lafontaine and Simon Fortier scored for the Titan (22-39-6). Daniel Sprong scored the lone goal for Charlottetown (20-39-8) and Eric Brassard turned away 34-of-37 shots in a losing cause. Acadie-Bathurst went 2 for 5 on the power play as the Islanders went 1 for 6. --- MOOSEHEADS 7 SEA DOGS 2 HALIFAX -- Jonathan Drouin and Philippe Gadoury each had two goals and an assist as the Mooseheads toppled Saint John for their 12th win in a row. Bradnon Vuic, Nikolaj Ehlers and Brendan Duke also scored for Halifax (46-18-3) while MacKenzie Weegar tacked on three assists. Jurij Repe and Nicolas Hebert supplied the scoring for the Sea Dogs (19-43-5), who are on a six-game slide and out of contention for a playoff position. Zachary Fucale stopped all 11 shots he faced through two periods of play for the Mooseheads before giving way to Kevin Darveau, who stopped 10-of-12 shots in relief. Saint Johns Sebastien Auger made 35 saves in defeat. --- SCREAMING EAGLES 4 WILDCATS 3 MONCTON, N.B. -- Zachary Fortin made 34 saves as Cape Breton edged the Wildcats for its fourth win in a row. Michael Lyle and Charles-Eric Legare had a goal and an assist apiece for the Screaming Eagles (37-26-4) while Kyle Farrell and Julien Pelletier added the others. Vladimir Tkachev, Gareth Nicholson and Christophe Lalonde scored for Moncton (32-32-3) and Alex Dubeau allowed four goals on 15 shots in defeat. Wildcats forward Christopher Caissy received a major and game misconduct at 16:07 of the second period for goaltender interference. --- DRAKKAR 4 SAGUENEENS 0 CHICOUTIMI, Que. -- Denis Gorbunov had a pair of goals and Philippe Cadorette stopped 25 shots as Baie-Comeau blanked the Sagueneens.dddddddddddd. Alexandre Chenevert and Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau also scored for the Drakkar (46-16-5), who remain atop the QMJHL standings with one regular-season game remaining on schedule. Janne Puhakka and Nikita Liamkin led all Chicoutimi (27-39-1) skaters with three shots apiece on Cadorette. Julio Billia turned aside 43-of-47 shots for the Sagueneens, who are 2-8-0 in their last 10 outings. --- FOREURS 6 ARMADA 1 BOISBRIAND, Que. -- Antoine Bibeau made 26 saves as Val-dOr defeated the Armada for its fourth win in a row. Anthony Mantha and Samuel Henley each had a goal and an assist for the Foreurs (45-20-2) and Louick Marcotte, Maxime Presseault, Timotej Sille and Pierre-Maxime Poudrier added single goals. Christopher Clapperton scored for Blainville-Boisbriand (40-17-10). Etienne Marcoux gave up six goals on 23 shots in 55 minutes of action before giving way to Samuel Montembeault, who stopped both shots he faced in relief. --- VOLTIGEURS 4 HUSKIES 1 DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. -- William Carrier had two goals and an assist as the Voltigeurs downed Rouyn-Noranda. Cameron Askew and Frederick Gaudreau also scored for Drummondville (41-21-4) while Ryan Culkin, Christophe Lalancette and Nikolas Brouillard each had two assists. Julien Nantel scored for the Huskies (34-27-5), who are winless in four games. Louis-Phillip Guindon made 15 saves for the Voltigeurs as Rouyn-Norandas Alexandre Belanger stopped 33 shots in defeat. --- OLYMPIQUES 7 PHOENIX 1 GATINEAU, Que. -- Vincent Dunn scored four times as the Olympiques toppled Sherbrooke. Vaclav Karabacek, Simon Tardif-Richard and Alexis Pepin also scored for Gatineau (41-22-4) and Martin Reway had three assists. Anthony Brodeur made 23 saves for the Olympiques. Jean-Francois Lavoie scored for the Phoenix (16-42-9), who are on a seven-game skid and officially eliminated from the QMJHL playoffs, and Gabriel Parent turned away 26-of-33 shots in defeat. --- CATARACTES 4 TIGRES 2 SHAWINIGAN, Que. -- Felix-Antoine Bergeron had a hat trick and Marvin Cupper made 39 saves as the Cataractes clinched the final playoff spot by doubling up Victoriaville. Anthony Beauvillier also scored for Shawinigan (19-38-9) and Nicholas Welsh had two assists. Julien Leduc and Jonathan Diaby scored for the Tigres (33-25-8). Victoriavilles Francois Tremblay stopped 18-of-21 shots in a losing cause. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '