Ready or not the Northern Iowa men open the Missouri Valley Conference race Wednesday night at Illinois-Chicago. The Panthers are 3-4 after dropping two games at the NIT Season Tip Off in Florida and it has been a few years since the Valley started conference play in December in the wake of expansion.

That’s Panther coach Ben Jacobson who says conference games have a different level of intensity.

Under first year coach Rob Ehsan, Illinois-Chicago is off to a 4-3 start.

Jacobson says the Panthers need to be ready for the challenge they face.

Arizona State will be without top receiver Jordan Tyson when the 12th ranked Sun Devils play 16th ranked Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship in Dallas. Tyson injured a shoulder in a win at Arizona. he has 75 catches, including 10 touchdowns.

That’s Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham. The Sun Devils were picked to finish 16th in the preseason poll but have reached the title game in large part by being a plus-11 in turnover margin.

Dillingham says the Sun Devils need to answer the physical challenge the Cyclones provide.

Dillingham says the Cyclones hang their hat on being physical.

When Dillingham was an assistant at Auburn he visited Iowa State to study how Matt Campbell turned the program around.

Denison-Schleswig Meet

• Denison-Schleswig 48 vs Audubon – 24
• Hinton 60 vs – Audubon 18
• Audubon – 31 vs Carroll – 24
• Denison-Schleswig – 48 vs Carroll – 27
• Hinton – 48 vs Denison-Schleswig – 36 

GIRLS

• CAM – 54 vs Ankeny Christian – 42
• East Mills – 48 vs Diagonal – 29
• Lenox – 50 vs Red Oak – 25
• Winterset – 57 vs Creston – 34
• Logan-Magnolia – 55 vs Essex – 27
• Mount Ayr – 59 vs Clarke – 17
• Orient-Macksburg – 61 vs Hamburg – 20
• MVAOCOU – 62 vs Missouri Valley – 19
• Martensdale-St. Marys – 47 vs Interstate 35 – 12
• Southeast Warren – 47 vs Mormon Trail – 37
• West Central Valley – 53 vs Lamoni – 36

BOYS

• Coon Rapids-Bayard – 56 vs Audubon – 47
• Clarinda – 85 vs Nodaway Valley – 51
• Creston – 52 vs Winterset – 44
• Bishop Heelan Catholic – 65 vs Treynor – 55
• Mount Ayr – 52 vs Clarke – 48
• Red Oak – 76 vs Lenox – 52
• Logan-Magnolia – 87 vs Essex – 29
• MVAOCOU – 57 vs Missouri Valley – 40
• Martensdale-St. Marys – 64 vs Interstate 35 – 40
• Southeast Warren – 67 vs Mormon Trail – 32
• West Central Valley – 49 vs Lamoni – 43

The CAM Cougars girls basketball team looked strong with their first win of the year over the Ankeny Christian Eagles on Monday night 54-42. The Cougars used a 11-0 run to start the first quarter followed immediately by an 8-0 run early in the second quarter to secure maintain their control in the game. CAM led 15-4 at the end of the first and grew the lead to 16 by half at 32-16. The Cougars led by as many as 22 down the stretch.

The Cougars were led by 13 points from Maddie Richter. Ada Hansen was the only other player with double digit scoring at 11 points.  Krista James and Ruthie Rich both chipped in 8 points.

Ankeny Chrisitan got 14 points from Katie Quick in the loss. CAM Head Coach Joe Wollum liked the improvement his team showed on Monday night.

CAM improves to 1-1 on the early season and will travel to Earlham on Tuesday. Coach Wollum noted that while he was pleased with the win, his team still needs to improve on their defense.

Tipoff for Tuesday’s contest against Earlham is set for 6:00 p.m.

The Iowa Hawkeye men open the Big Ten race at home on Tuesday night against Northwestern. The Wildcats are 6-2 and have several veteran players back from a team that finished 22-12 an made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa coach Fran McCaffery.

McCaffery watched the Wildcats in person over the weekend. His son Patrick and Butler edged the Wildcats 71-69 at the Arizona Tip-Off.

McCaffery says both teams know what to expect in terms of style of play.

Senior Payton Sandfort has struggled from three point range while struggling with an injured wrist but feels he is making progress. Sandfort knows the expectation level for him this season is big.

December Big Ten games have been tough on the Hawkeyes.

Atlantic Senior Aiden Smith took a massive step in his wrestling career Monday morning at Atlantic High School when he signed his letter of intent to wrestle for Northwestern College in Orange City during the fall of 2025. Smith has had an accomplished career in the Trojan wrestling program earning a state medal three separate times, 87 career pins, and over 141 victories all under head coach Tim Duff.

When it came time to pick a school to enhance his wrestling ability, Smith explained that Northwestern felt right, and he liked the way Head Coach Rick Dahl led the program.

For a lot of highschoolers, wrestling at a higher level can be intimidating. When asked his thoughts, Smith noted how excited he was to compete.

Aiden’s father Adam Smith commented that Northwestern was a great fit for his son due to their competitive wrestling program and the academic opportunities available.

Coach Dahl had nothing but praise for Smith and is eager to see the impact that he will bring in 2025.

The Trojans begin their wrestling season on Thursday against Earlham in a dual.

The Iowa State women have dropped to 20th in the latest AP Top 25. The Cyclones are 6-2 after splitting two games in Florida, including a 40-point loss to defending national champion South Carolina. The Cyclones host South Carolina Upstate on Tuesday night.

That’s ISU coach Bill Fennelly who hopes the loss to South Carolina is a learning experience for his team.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior kicker Drew Stevens has been tabbed Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the Week following Iowa’s 13-10 Heroes Game Trophy triumph over Nebraska, it was announced Monday by the league office. Stevens shares the weekly honor with Michigan kicker Dominic Zvada.

The conference weekly honor is the fourth of Stevens’ career and second in as many weeks. He was tabbed Freshman of the Week after his performance in a win over Northwestern in 2022. Stevens was Special Teams Player of the Week after a victory over the Wildcats at Wrigley Field in 2023 and following Iowa’s road win at Maryland two weeks ago.

Stevens made both field-goal attempts, including a game-winning 53-yard field goal as time expired to give Iowa the 13-10 victory over the Huskers. Stevens also connected on a 20-yarder in the third quarter. The 53-yard field goal was his third game-winning kick of his career; he made a 21-yarder with 28 seconds left in a road win at Minnesota in 2022 and a 53-yarder with 14 seconds remaining versus Northwestern in 2023.

The native of North Augusta, South Carolina, has made 53 field goals, surpassing Keith Duncan in the regular season finale, for fourth most in program history. Stevens has made a single-season best 19 field goals in 2024, while his 1.58 field goals made per game rank second best in the Big Ten and 14th nationally. The game-winning kick against the Huskers was his eighth career 50+ yarder, which is a school record.

Iowa has beaten Nebraska by identical 13-10 scores — winning on a successful field goal attempt as time expired — each of the last two seasons.

Four Hawkeyes have earned Big Ten weekly honors six total times this year. In addition to Stevens’ two accolades, Kaleb Johnson was recognized after Iowa wins over border rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin; Aaron Graves was honored following the victory over Washington, while Kaden Wetjen earned the distinction following Iowa’s triumph over Northwestern.

Iowa finished the regular season 8-4 overall and tied for fifth place in the Big Ten standings with a 6-3 conference record. The Hawkeyes will learn their bowl destination Sunday, Dec. 8.

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference has determined that the actions of both teams following the Michigan-Ohio State football game on Saturday, November 30, 2024, violated the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy. Not only did the actions of both teams violate fundamental elements of sportsmanship such as respect and civility, the nature of the incident also jeopardized the safety of participants and bystanders.

As a result of these violations, the Big Ten Conference has issued an institutional fine to both the University of Michigan and The Ohio State University in the amount of $100,000 each.

The Big Ten Conference considers this matter concluded and will have no further comment.