Gästebereich » nk, in the NCAA tournament this yea

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- They slowed it down to a crawl in the beginning, then went as fast as they could at the end. An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. 2 Kansas 67-63 on Saturday night in the third-place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis. "Let me just say that we got beat by a fine team tonight," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. "And theyre going to do a lot of things, I think, in the NCAA tournament this year." McKenzie Moore scored 15 for UTEP (4-4), including three free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining to get the Miners within three. Justin Crosgile scored 14 points and Vince Hunter added 10 the Miners, who held Kansas to 39 per cent shooting. "I was real pleased with the effort," Floyd said. Perry Ellis scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, Wayne Selden Jr. scored 14 and Joel Embiid came off the bench to add nine points, seven blocked shots -- all in the second half-- and six rebounds for the Jayhawks (6-1), who will likely drop from the No. 2 spot in the national rankings this coming week. Still, the Jayhawks will likely be on everybodys list of must-watch teams come March, and that gives Floyd plenty of hope for the Miners season. "We have a long ways to go to become a good basketball team," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And thats not all bad, either. We rarely have great teams in November. But were not as good as we were 17, 18 days ago. So thats a little frustrating that weve gone backwards. We didnt play well at all over here." Naadir Tharpe added 11 for the Jayhawks, who never trailed. The Jayhawks won despite Andrew Wiggins being held to six points, nearly 10 below the freshmans season average. It was the second straight night where Kansas saw a big early lead, 11-2 against Villanova and 15-2 against UTEP, evaporate and the game turn into a struggle. The finish saw UTEP scoring 13 points in just over a minute and carving away most of a late 14-point Jayhawk lead, but Kansas had enough. Barely, but enough. And if UTEP had been better from the line, it might have been a different story -- the Miners missed 10 of 24 tries from the stripe. Kansas led by 15 in the second half, and after a series of UTEP rallies, the Jayhawks were still up by 14 following Ellis jumper from the right wing with 2:21 left. It was 59-45 at that point. It was 18-8 UTEP the rest of the way, a far cry from how the Miners started the night. On UTEPs first possession, Floyd -- who isnt exactly shy about going against convention, with his box-and-one and triangle-and-two defences on display often in the Bahamas -- did something hardly ever seen anymore, especially at the start of games. He stalled, though said afterward that it wasnt a true stall, just a set with hopes of creating 3-on-2 mismatches or open drives. Think the old North Carolina "four corners," or something akin to it, anyway. Thats what the Miners did in the opening minutes, running an average of 30.1 seconds off the 35-second shot clock on their first nine possessions. Simple logic, really -- the fewer possessions Kansas had, the fewer chances it would have to score. It only sort of worked. After 5 1/2 minutes, Kansas had only two points. In that same span, the Miners had zero points. "It was different ... but I thought we adjusted well," Ellis said. The Miners missed their first six shots and didnt get on the board until 12:35 remained in the half, a drive by C.J. Cooper snapping an 0 for 6 start by UTEP and cutting Kansas lead to 7-2. By the time UTEP scored again, Kansas had already pushed the lead out to 15-2, running off eight straight. And along the way, UTEP ditched the ploy and just started playing. Thats when it became a game, for really the first time. UTEP went on an 18-11 spurt, getting within 26-20 late in the half. Wiggins -- who had been scoreless until then -- scored six straight to give Kansas a 12-point lead with 1:30 left, and Seldens acrobatic drive gave the Jayhawks a 34-25 lead at the break. But UTEP hung around, all the way to the end. "We didnt want to leave here without getting better for the rest of the season," Hunter said. "I believe we did. I believe we got better, playing the No. 2 team in the country." Air Max 97 Ireland . -- Coyotes coach Dave Tippett thinks of one thing when he watches Eastern Conference teams struggle against Western opponents before they get to Phoenix: His team must keep pace. Cheap Air Max 97 Sale . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.cheapairmax97ireland.com/.S. Basketball Writers Association. McDermott, who finished his career at Creighton as college basketballs fifth-leading scorer, accepted the honour from Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson at AT&T Stadium, site of the Final Four. Air Max 97 Ireland Cheap ." Also, defencemen "were found to be at a higher risk of suffering a concussion than other players, perhaps due to turning their back to retrieve pucks along the boards, which leaves them vulnerable. Cheap Air Max 97 Wholesale . The start of the seasons fifth and final major was delayed two hours due to heavy rain in the area. The tournament eventually began, but with water on the greens and the rain persisting, players were called back to the clubhouse less than an hour after the first group teed off.Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - Montreal Impact and Italian national team striker Marco Di Vaio announced his retirement from professional soccer on Friday. After a 20-year career, I am pleased to announce that I will be retiring in Montreal as a member of the Impact, declared Marco Di Vaio. I am very proud of what Ive accomplished over two decades as a pro. It was a dream of mine to play at the highest level and I will look to make the best of my final month as a player. Di Vaio became the Impacts first ever Designated Player in 2012, joining Montreal in its expansion year as one of the most storied goal scorers in Italian first division history. He has scored 142 goals in 342 games played in Serie A, with Lazio, Bari, Salernitana, Parma, Juventus, Genoa and Bologna. In three seasons with the Impact, Di Vaio scored 31 goals, seven of which were game winners, and added nine assists in 72 regular season games played for a total of 5,636 minutes, including 62 starts. He ends his career as the clubs all-time leading goal scorer in MLS, as well as the club leader in game winning goals, shots and shots on goal. Everything we asked of Marco has been delivered, said Impact president Joey Saputo. He accepted all the responsibilities that came with being a Designated Player. He was the first for this club and was the right choice.dddddddddddd His quality and experience helped the team progress on the field, but he also helped the club with his wealth of knowledge off of it. He gained respect around the league and from its players, and its very well deserved. We thank him for everything hes done for the club and the city. Di Vaio began his professional career in Serie A in 1995 with Lazio and then went on to don the colors of Verona and Bari in Italy???s second division. In 1997-1998 with Salernitana, he won the Golden boot in Serie B as the leagues leading scorer with 21 goals in 37 games. His efforts helped his side earn promotion to the first division. The next year, he scored 12 goals in 30 games, and despite Salernitanas relegation, he remained in Serie A by signing with Parma. Di Vaio was sent to Juventus in 2003 and scored 18 goals in 55 games, winning the Italian championship. He also helped the team reach the Champions League final, scoring four goals in 11 matches. He moved on to Bologna in 2008 and captained the club for two seasons, scoring 65 goals and adding 18 assists in 143 regular season games played. In his first season with Bologna, he finished as the leagues second leading scorer with 24 goals. Di Vaio also spent time with Monaco in Frances Ligue 1 as well as Genoa. ' ' '