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A Top 25 showdown is on tap at the Allen Fieldhouse this evening, as the sixth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks square off with the 16th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones in a key Big 12 tilt. wholesale jerseys . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Bill Selfs squad is playing some of its best basketball of late. After knocking off four straight nationally-ranked foes, Kansas avoided a letdown this past weekend, blowing out TCU on the road, 91-69. Fred Hoibergs Cyclones are 15-3 overall and have some marquee wins to their credit, knocking off Michigan, Iowa and Texas thus far. The team continued to bolster its resume with last weekends 81-75 win over nationally-ranked Kansas State. The victory ended a three-game losing streak for Iowa State and moved the team to 3-3 in league play. Kansas has won four straight meetings and 17 of the last 18 overall to take a 174-59 all-time series lead. KU is seeking the regular-season sweep after posting a 77-70 win in Ames on Jan. 13. The Jayhawks hold a 89-15 edge in Lawrence and a 48-9 advantage at the Allen Fieldhouse, including wins in the last eight meetings there. After winning its first 14 games of the season, Iowa State has started to return to the pack a little bit, with losses in three of the last four games. Still, the Cyclones remain dangerous, leading the Big 12 in scoring (84.8), assists (18.2), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7) and three-point field goals made (8.7). The scoring pool is deep for ISU, with four of the five starters in double figures. Melvin Ejim leads the team with 17.9 ppg, while also grabbing 7.3 rpg. DeAndre Kane is the new edition to the roster and has made an immediate impact with 16.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per outing. Georges Niang (15.4 ppg) and Dustin Hogue (11.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg) add to ISUs firepower. Iowa State shot a scorching 61.5 percent from the floor in the first half to take a 12-point lead over Kansas State into intermission. The Cyclones cooled off considerably after the break (35.7 percent), but were able to hold on for the win. Ejim just missed a double-double, finishing with 20 points and nine rebounds. Niang poured in 18 points, followed by Matt Thomas (14 pts) and Kane (10 pts). Hogue netted eight points, but grabbed a team-best 12 boards. Freshman Andrew Wiggins scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Jayhawks to the easy win over the Horned Frogs last time out. Kansas shot a sterling 57.4 percent from the floor and held a 40-24 rebounding advantage in the rout. Fellow freshmen Joel Embiid (14 points and three blocks) and Wayne Selden Jr. (12 points), got into the act as well, while sophomore Perry Ellis (eight points) grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds. The Jayhawks have been ultra-efficient this season, ranking fourth nationally at an impressive .510 shooting percentage from the floor, leading to a hefty 79.6 ppg. Kansas has also been dominant on the glass with a +7.3 rebounding margin. A young squad that features three freshmen, one sophomore and one junior in the starting lineup, is peaking at the right time. Wiggins was the star recruit and has played well for the most part, leading the Jayhawks in scoring at 15.8 ppg. Ellis is second in the scoring column at 12.9 ppg. Embiid has burst on the scene as one of the nations most talented big men, shooting .667 from the floor, while averaging 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. cheap nfl jerseys . Tanaka has certainly lived up to the hype this season, going 10-1 with an American League-best 2.02 ERA. The Japanese right-hander went the distance to win his fourth straight start on Wednesday in Seattle, as he held the Mariners to a pair of runs and six hits. cheap jerseys china .C. -- If this was Jabari Parkers last home game at Duke, what a farewell it was.There are likely two safe bets when it comes to the 2014 CFL Draft; offensive linemen will dominate the early selections, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will look to solidify one of their most glaring positional needs with the second-overall pick. According to the CFL Scouting Bureaus January rankings, four of the top five Canadian prospects line-up on the offensive side of the trenches, which is good news for Bombers general manager Kyle Walters. With only one selection in the first two rounds — Walters sent his second-round pick to Saskatchewan in the days ahead of the 2013 trade deadline — the No. 2 pick is an opportunity to grab one of three top O-line prospects who are expected to play professionally in Canada. The No. 1-rated athlete overall, offensive tackle Laurent Duvernay-Tardif out of McGill, is not attending this weekends CFL Combine in Toronto, opting instead to hold his own pro day in Montreal for both NFL and Canadian scouts. This leaves Laval University centre Pierre Lavertu as a very likely target for either the expansion Ottawa Redblacks who select first overall, or for the Blue Bombers. Lavertu would be an attractive choice for Winnipeg with the free agent departure of starting centre Justin Sorensen this past winter. "(I am a) centre, so it will help then if Im going to be a centre at the next level," said the 6-foot-3 300-pound All-Canadian. "But if I have to play guard or something like that, Im going to do it." Lavertu is both confident and aware of the two teams who may call his name on May 13. "I figure that will happen. Its going to be cool if Im drafted by one of those teams. I watch a lot of the websites of Winnipeg and Ottawa just to learn more about these teams." The offensive lineman that may have the most to prove during Combine weekend is 6-foot-4 294-pound Matthias Goossen out of the non-CIS school Simon Fraser. "I want to make sure that whatever I do here solidifies what Ive done in the season, and it can help show more athleticism — how I compare to guys in the CIS game, because obviously all these guys here I havent played against at all. So it would great to compare myself to these guys and sort of show myself and prove my worth, and obviously continue to make myself look better for the scouts." Goossen made a huge leap in the Bureaus rankinggs in just four months, moving from No. cheap nfl jerseys china. 15 up to No. 5 once more scouts and CFL team reps could see what he was capable of. The Combine is an opportunity for him to cement those assessments. "I think the biggest thing, like everybody knows, is the one-on-ones and showing how to compete and showing how I actually play because when it comes down to it, theres no bench press on the field." Goossen played every position on the offensive line over the past four years at SFU, but feels his body-type is an ideal fit for the centre position at the pro level. A third potential option for the Blue Bombers, if they desire an O-lineman with their first pick may not fill their vacant centre spot, but he is quite hard to ignore. David Foucault stands 6-foot-8 and weighs in at 320 pounds. "I played tackle last year, but two years ago I played guard. I can play on both sides — guard and tackle — left and right… If a coach asks me what do you prefer? I prefer tackle. But I just want to play football. If you put me at guard, I will play guard. I just want to play professional football, and thats why Im here." While the CFL Combine measures many things, the versatile 24-year-old out of Montreal University feels language may be the most critical area for him to work on. "Thats why I went to Florida for training because all the stuff (at the Combine) is in English. When I came to Florida my first week, I was very bad in my English. I need to practice every day… If a scout or a coach wants to do an interview in French I will say no, I need to practice my English." Another concern for the No. 3-ranked prospect could be his physicality, as Foucault may stand prominent, but he has been known to play smaller than his stature and lack finish when engaging defenders. "(Im looking most forward to) the one-on-ones because in the combine in Tampa (Florida) I did all the tests and some drills. Some mirror drills and O-line drills. But maybe the one-on-ones I need to do well in that (this weekend). For all my tests I need to be consistent or do better." *N.B. Winnipeg traded their 2014 second-round selection along with import defensive end Alex Hall to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in exchange for non-import offensive lineman Patrick Neufeld and a 2015 fourth-round selection. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
