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Iowa State remained ranked 17th in the A-P basketball poll after their 85-82 come-from-behind win over Iowa Friday, while the Hawkeyes fell from 23 to 25. The Cyclones have a week off to enjoy the big win before they get back to business in Hawaii where they will play George Mason Sunday. Cyclone coach Fred Hoiberg said the comebacks are exciting — but he’d rather see the team take the lead and hold it. Hoiberg says they have come back four times from double-digit deficits and he told the team he’d like to the quit making a habit of that and see them get some double-digit leads.

“We’ve got three huge games coming up in Hawaii, come back for one more, and then go into conference play,” Hoiberg said. The come-from-behind win moved I-S-U to 8-0 on the season. “We’re right where we want to be right now as far as the record is concerned, but we still have some work to do,” Hoiberg said. “That’s the positive about this team, is that there is still room to grow, we can still get better. And that’s the thing I am excited about.” Cyclone sophomore forward Georges Niang was name the Big 12 player of the week for his performance against Iowa.

Niang had a career high 24 points, including the winning layup with 18 seconds to go, and also had five assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Teammate Melvin Ejim talked about Niang’s ability after the Iowa game. “You know Georges is just a smart, smart player, he just has super control over his body and knows how to create space. And that’s one of the talents he has over any person — whether you are seven foot or you are very small — he can make that space and get his shot up all the time,” Ejim said. “And if you take that away, he can step out and take a shot. He is just an offensive nightmare.”

Ejim said it was not surprising to see Niang play so well against a good Hawkeye team. “Day in and day out he is coming in, he’s working hard, he’s playing well for us… Georges is a tough player to guard for anybody,” Ejim said. Niang is the fourth Cyclone to earn player of the week honors, joining Ejim, Dustin Hogue and Naz Long. DeAndre Kane has twice been named the league’s newcomer of the week.

(Radio Iowa)

The Top Ten teams in the Associated Press Iowa high school basketball poll with first-place votes in parentheses and won-loss record, total points and position last week at right:

Class 4-A

Record Pts Prv

1. Iowa City West (11) 4-0 126 1
2. Bettendorf 3-0 110 2
3. Dubuque Senior (1) 3-0 91 3
4. North Scott 4-0 89 4
5. Ankenny Centennial 5-0 86 T8
6. Sioux City North (1) 6-0 74 T8
7. Des Moines North 4-0 40 NR
8. Waukee 4-1 39 5
9. Southeast Polk 4-1 23 6
10. Des Moines Roosevelt 3-1 11 NR

Others receiving votes: Valley, West Des Moines 10. Pleasant Valley 5. Linn-Mar, Marion 5. Davenport, Central 3. Fort Dodge 2.

Class 3-A

Record Pts Prv

1. Harlan (12) 3-0 120 1
2. Solon 4-0 99 3
3. Clear Lake 4-0 87 5
4. Carroll (1) 4-0 75 NR
5. Wahlert  3-1 65 7
6. Dallas Center-Grimes 4-1 58 9
7. Bishop Heelan Catholic 2-1 55 6
8. Xavier 3-1 37 2
9. Central Clinton 4-0 33 NR
10. Fort Madison 5-0 24 NR

Others receiving votes: Pella 22. MOC-Floyd Valley 12. Grinnell 8. Creston 8. Humboldt 4. Le Mars 3. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 3. Waukon 1. Epworth, Western Dubuque 1.

Class 2-A

Record Pts Prv

1. Western Christian (11) 3-0 119 1
2. Western Dubuque 4-0 95 3
3. West Fork (1) 4-0 78 6
4. Rock Valley 4-0 77 4
5. St. Edmond 5-0 68 5
6. PCM 5-0 63 7
7. New Hampton 3-0 51 10
8. Kuemper Catholic 3-1 49 2
9. Northeast 5-0 24 NR
10. IKM-Manning 4-0 19 NR, (tie) MFL-Mar-Mac 4-0 19 8

Others receiving votes: Des Moines Christian 16 (1). Hinton 9. Sioux Center 9. East Sac County 7. Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto 5. South Central Calhoun 4. Forest City 2. West Marshall, State Center 1.

Class 1-A

Record Pts Prv

1. Newell-Fonda (8) 5-0 118 1
2. Gehlen Catholic (3) 5-0 109 2
3. West Lyon (1) 4-0 93 3
4. Belmond-Klemme 5-0 67 8
5. Iowa Mennonite 4-0 61 6
6. Nodaway Valley 4-0 60 4
7. Dunkerton 4-0 58 5
8. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3-0 23 NR
9. Lamoni 5-0 22 NR
10. Lake Mills (1) 6-0 19 NR

Others receiving votes: Keota 15. Springville 10. Ankeny Christian Academy 10. Van Buren, Keosauqua 9. Grandview Park Baptist, Des Moines 8. Alta-Aurelia 6. Bishop Garrigan, Algona 6. Danville 4. George-Little Rock 4. Boyden-Hull 4. B-G-M, Brooklyn 3. Jesup 3. Coon Rapids-Bayard 2. Preston 1.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals have signed free-agent second baseman Mark Ellis. The Cardinals announced the one-year deal with the 36-year-old veteran on Monday. Terms were not disclosed. Ellis is a lifetime .265 hitter for three teams. He hit .270 with six home runs and 48 RBIs for the Dodgers last season, and is considered a strong defensive second baseman.

Rookie Kolten Wong is expected to get playing time at second base in 2014, but Ellis will provide a right-handed hitting option. Matt Carpenter, who played second base last season, is moving to third base following the trade of David Freese to the Angels.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drake introduced Rick Fox as its 26th head football coach on Monday in place of Chris Creighton, who last week accepted the Eastern Michigan job. Fox spent the past six seasons on Creighton’s staff as the offensive line and special teams coach. He also served as Creighton’s assistant head coach for the past three years.

Drake athletic director Sandy Hatfield-Clubb says the Bulldogs could have scoured the country and not have found a better fit than Fox. Drake went 44-22 under Creighton, including two titles in the FCS-affiliated Pioneer Football League.

BOYS BASKETBALL

• A-H-S-T 70, Heartland Christian 47
• Bedford 53, Clarke 44
• Boyer Valley 48, Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 39

GIRLS BASKETBALL

• A-H-S-T 46, Heartland Christian 41
• Bedford 51, Clarke 42
• Bishop Heelan Catholic 70, Kuemper Catholic 47

w/ Jim Field

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The Iowa women had a six-game winning streak snapped last week with the 83-70 loss at Iowa State. Coach Lisa Bluder says dealing with the loss is compounded by an extended break. “Ten days to sit on a loss is awful and to go through finals week on a losing note is really hard,” Bluder says. The Hawkeyes face another in-state rival this coming weekend. Drake and Iowa tipoff at 4pm on Saturday in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes are 10-2. The Bulldogs are 4-4.

“We need to come back and play our best against Drake,” Bluder says. Before the Iowa game, Drake will host SIU-Edwardsville in a noon tip-off tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Knapp Center in Des Moines. The Bulldogs haven’t played since December 5, when they beat Idaho State 78-59. The Iowa State women, now 9-0, are off until December 28-29 when they host the Cyclone Challenge. The Northern Iowa women are 3-7 and travel to DeKalb to play Northern Illinois on Saturday.

(Radio Iowa)

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Jamaal Charles tied a franchise record with five touchdowns in a game, Alex Smith threw five TD passes and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Raiders 56-31 on Sunday to clinch at least a wild-card spot. The Chiefs (11-3) became the fourth team ever to make the playoffs a year after losing at least 14 games. Kansas City is tied for first place in the AFC West with Denver but needs help to win the division because the Broncos swept the season series.

Charles gained 215 yards from scrimmage as the Chiefs put up the highest point total allowed in Raiders’ history. Matt McGloin threw four interceptions and lost a fumble while sharing time with Terrelle Pryor. Oakland (4-10) lost its fourth straight game.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Hawkeye 10:

• Carroll 63, Kuemper Catholic 42
• Glenwood 66, St. Albert 39
• Harlan 74, Blair, NE 46
• Ralston, NE 46, Lewis Central 35
• Clarinda Academy 89, Red Oak 70
• Shenandoah 91, South Page 33
• Creston 70, ADM 57

Rolling Valley:

• Adair-Casey 52, Glidden-Ralston 48
• Ar-We-Va 65, Charter Oak-Ute 43
• Boyer Valley 58, West Harrison 53
• Coon Rapids-Bayard 65, Woodbine 36
• Boyer Valley 58, West Harrison 52

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Hawkeye 10:

• Glenwood 57, St. Albert 51 (OT)
• Red Oak 78, Clarinda Academy 13

Rolling Valley:

• Adair-Casey 54, Glidden-Ralston 25
• Ar-We-Va, Westside 56, Charter Oak-Ute 25
• Coon Rapids-Bayard 37, Woodbine 25
• Paton-Churdan 69, CAM 35