st the Flames. Backup Al Montoya took the los | Forum

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- They slowed it down to a crawl in the beginning, then went as fast as they could at the end. http:///...moon-822675-515.html . 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." http:///...lack-653972-606.html .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. http:///...en-men-gs-girls.html .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. http:///...inal-red-a07007.html . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement.The Winnipeg Jets aim to pick up their second victory under new head coach Paul Maurice tonight as they visit the Calgary Flames. Viewers in the Jets region can watch the action unfold live on TSN Jets or tune in to TSN Radio 1290 at 7:30pm ct/8:30pm et. The Jets lost a season-high fifth game in a row on Saturday and the following day fired head coach Claude Noel. He was replaced by Maurice, who coached his first NHL game on Monday since being let go by the Carolina Hurricanes in November of 2011. Despite minimal time with his new team, Maurice picked up a 5-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes in his debut. The Coyotes scored first at 12:16 of the opening period, but Olli Jokinen responded just 36 seconds later and Eric ODells second career goal put Winnipeg ahead for good before the end of the frame. "They did the one thing we had talked about that when adversity came to the doorstep that next goal was huge," said Maurice. "The bench didnt get quiet, we stayed positive and thats the start of the foundation of handling adversity over the course of the game and sticking with it." Blake Wheeler added his club-leading 17th goal of the campaign and Devin Setoguchi and Michael Frolik also scored, while Ondrej Pavelec made 18 saves. "I think we did a good job of being ready to play tonight," said Winnipeg winger Andrew Ladd. "We have some more work to do in getting down (Maurices) system that he wants us to play, but we have plenty of time to get it going and make a push for the playoffs." Setoguchi, is questionable to play tonight due to illness, while fellow forward Evander Kane will miss his third straight game due to a hand injury. Kane was putt on Injured Reserve on Thursday, retroactive to Jan 7, and call up Carl Klingberg from the AHLs St. http:///...rey-furry-shoes.html. Johns IceCaps. While the Jets find themselves 10 points out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference, it is a steeper climb for the Flames, who sit 13th in the conference and 17 points behind that final playoff spot. Calgary has lost eight of its last 10 games, shut out five times in that span while totaling just 10 goals. The Flames did blank the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 on Monday, but fell in defeat the following night 4-2 to the Nashville Predators, who got a pair of goals 2:40 into the third period to snap a tie game. Lee Stempniak and Mikael Backlund both scored in defeat, with Jiri Hudler assisting on both goals and Karri Ramo recording 30 saves. "We werent ready coming into the third period," admitted Backlund, who scored in his third straight game. Calgary played a second straight game without forward Michael Cammalleri, who is out with a concussion. The Flames have won four in a row over the Jets franchise, including a 5-4 shootout victory in Winnipeg on Nov. 18. The Jets also have never won in Calgary dating back to their days in Atlanta, going 0-6-0 all-time on the road in this series. Ramo is 0-0-1 with a 3.30 goals against average in two career meetings with the Jets, including one start, while rookie Reto Berra made 43 saves in the shootout win that went eight rounds. Rookie Sean Monahan had the winner in the tiebreaker, while Cammalleri and T.J. Brodie had a goal and an assist in regulation. Pavelec is 0-2-0 with a 4.12 GAA in two previous starts against the Flames. Backup Al Montoya took the loss in November with 29 saves. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap Soccer Jerseys ' ' '