KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes looked up at the scoreboard late in the third quarter and was stunned to see the Kansas City Chiefs had taken a 31-0 lead over the AFC West rival Oakland Raiders.

“I felt like we’d only scored a couple of times,” he said.

That’s because the Chiefs’ high-powered offense didn’t need to do a whole lot Sunday.

Their defense and the inept Raiders took care of the rest.

Mahomes did throw for a touchdown and run for a touchdown, but it was Juan Thornhill’s pick-6 and a long list of blunders by Derek Carr and Co. that really made the difference.

They allowed Kansas City to cruise to a 40-9 victory and into a two-game lead over the Raiders in the division race.

“That’s what we expected all season long, and you’ve seen it week by week the defense getting better,” Mahomes said, “and the offense just played in the flow of the game. We’ve been in every type of game so far and we’ve been finding ways to win them.”

LeSean McCoy and Darwin Thompson also had TD runs for the Chiefs (8-4), who can clinch a fourth straight division title with a win over New England and an Oakland loss to Tennessee next weekend.

Oakland (6-6) sure didn’t play like a team fighting for a piece of the division lead.

Carr dropped to 0-6 at Arrowhead Stadium with another miserable outing, throwing for 222 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. The Raiders failed to score twice in the red zone, were penalized 12 times for 99 yards, and watched Kansas City put together a 9½-minute drive almost entirely on the ground that soaked up most of the fourth quarter.

When the Raiders finally scored a touchdown in the last minute, the Chiefs blocked the extra point and returned it for two points — one more insult to Oakland in a game full of them.

It was the Raiders’ seventh straight loss in Kansas City, and the continuation of a major late-season spiral. The blowout came on the heels of a 34-3 loss to the Jets last weekend.

Josh Jacobs was Oakland’s lone bright spot, running for 104 yards on 17 carries.

UP NEXT

Oakland: begins a two-game home-stand against the Titans on Sunday.

Kansas City: visits the Patriots in an AFC title game rematch on Sunday.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for a touchdown and ran for one, Juan Thornhill returned a pick 46 yards for another score, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the bumbling Oakland Raiders 40-9 to seize control of the AFC West. LeSean McCoy and Darwin Thompson also had TD runs for the Chiefs, who took a two-game lead over the Raiders by finishing off a season sweep. Derek Carr threw two interceptions for Oakland.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Javonte Perkins had 18 points off the bench to lead Saint Louis to a 69-60 win over Southern Illinois. Hasahn French had 15 points and nine rebounds for Saint Louis, which won its fourth consecutive game.

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) — Tanner Krebs had 19 points to lead five Saint Mary’s players in double figures as the Gaels won their seventh consecutive game, beating Omaha 75-66. Jordan Ford added 18 points for the Gaels.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Brawntae Wells returned an interception for a touchdown early in the first quarter, Christian Jegen sealed the game with a pick late in the fourth quarter and Northern Iowa defeated San Diego 17-3 in the first round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday. Jegen went 52 yards the other way with a Reid Sinnett passing attempt and Trevor Allen scored on a 7-yard run on the next play to seal the defensive battle. The Panthers (9-4) play at seventh-seeded South Dakota State (8-4) next weekend. Northern Iowa lost at South Dakota State 38-7 two weeks ago.

Northern Iowa finished with 268 yards to 213 for the Pioneer League champion Toreros (9-2), who had their nine-game winning streak stopped. UNI, runner-up in the Missouri Valley Conference, is making its 21st playoff appearance while San Diego, which averaged 498.8 yards and 41.7 points per game, was appearing for the sixth time. Sinnett, from Johnston, Iowa, was 22 of 36 for 187 yards and three interceptions. The Toreros, who also lost a fumble, got a field goal in the closing seconds of the first half, capping a 73-yard drive.

Will McElvain was 13 of 27 for 186 yards for the Panthers. Northern Iowa had a field goal in the fourth quarter to end a 68-yard drive.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Chris Klieman gathered his players in the locker room after a heart-stopping win at Texas Tech and challenged not his seniors, who soon would be playing their final game for Kansas State, but the rest of the guys who would be around for years to come. The first-year coach wanted his youngsters to lay it on the line for the veterans. “Without question,” he said, “they played an excellent football game.”

Jacardia Wright ran for a touchdown, fellow freshman Joshua Youngblood returned a kickoff 93 yards for another score, and the Wildcats’ aggressive defense shut down Brock Purdy and high-flying Iowa State to win a 27-17 defensive slugfest on a cold, windy Saturday night. The Wildcats (8-4, 5-4 Big 12) only managed 57 yards passing and 288 yards of total offense, but they scored the final 13 points while holding the Cyclones in check.

The Wildcats beat the Cyclones for the 11th time in 12 meetings in the game known as “Farmageddon.” They also have won seven straight in Manhattan against their fellow land-grant college. Iowa State’s offense came into the game sixth nationally in passing at 330.5 yards per game, but Purdy struggled with the stiff, cold wind out of the west. He also got little help from his receivers, who dropped several passes — a few of them on crucial third downs.
UP NEXT
Both teams will await their bowl destinations next weekend.

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) — Myles Powell struggled to get in an early rhythm as No. 13 Seton Hall closed its three-game stay in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Yet the way coach Kevin Willard saw it, it was just a matter of time before he would.

Powell scored 19 of his 24 points after halftime to help Seton Hall beat Iowa State 84-76 in Friday night’s fifth-place game, giving the Pirates two wins after an opening-round loss to No. 11 Oregon.

“He plays so hard that defenders, they’ll stick with him for the first half,” Willard said. “Then, usually in the second half, he’s going to come get you.”

Powell, a preseason Associated Press All-American, made just 2 of 9 shots in the opening half. He made 7 of 10 after the break, including three 3-pointers, for the Pirates (6-2).

“I know my team’s going to go as I go,” Powell said. “So I just tried to come out and feed on defense first and the game just came to me.”

Sandro Mamukelashvili added 18 points for the Pirates, who finally took control with a 12-2 second-half run. The run included Powell burying a 3 over Tre Jackson at the 6:12 mark, then pointing emphatically at his shooting elbow as he got back on defense.

Later, Mamukelashvili hit his own 3 off a feed from Powell for a 76-65 lead with 4:38 left to cap the 12-2 run. It was also part of a run of five straight made shots for the Pirates, while the Cyclones went 1 for 7 during those key minutes.

Previously, neither team had led by more than six in the second half, and the Pirates didn’t let that margin slip below six again.

Seton Hall shot 61% for the second half and 54% for the game, the first of two in a row against Iowa State due to a quirk in the schedule.

Rasir Bolton scored 20 points for the Cyclones (4-3), who led by nine midway through the first half. Tyrese Haliburton added 19 points and seven assists.

“We were really in a good rhythm early,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. “And then they raised it up a notch, and we didn’t weather that storm enough. We got flustered. We took some bad shots.”

BIG PICTURE

Seton Hall: The Pirates had a test-filled stay in the Bahamas. First came the opener against Oregon, with Seton Hall rolling to a 19-point lead only to blow that lead and lose on a late bucket. They had to bring more energy to a losers’ bracket game to finally put away Southern Miss in the latest game on Thursday’s schedule, then pulled away late in this one.

“I said (the Oregon loss) doesn’t stop where we are as a program, where we are as a team,” Willard said. “I said the only thing that stops us is if we don’t get two wins. And they responded tremendously.”

Iowa State: The Cyclones had a tough time defensively in the tournament opener against eventual champion Michigan, though they bounced back to beat Alabama on Thursday behind a near-triple-double from Haliburton. They traded plenty of baskets with the Pirates before Seton Hall pulled away.

LIGHTS OUT

The game was also played amid a power outage at parts of the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. The lights in Imperial Arena went out for a few seconds twice, once during halftime and later during a play as Haliburton drove for a scooping layup with 11:02 left.

The arena went dark as the ball was bouncing off the backboard before it went through the net. Fans broke out cellphones and turned on their flashlight apps in the seconds before the lights quickly came back on, and then Iowa State fans started chanting “Count it!” as officials discussed what to do about Haliburton’s drive.

Officials complied, and the game continued without further (electrical) drama.

“I just stopped moving because they said don’t move,” Haliburton said, adding: “I just wanted to make sure they counted the basket.”

UP NEXT

Seton Hall: The Pirates visit the Cyclones on Dec. 8.

Iowa State: The Cyclones host Kansas City on Wednesday to tune up for their Seton Hall rematch.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — It was cold and damp, Iowa had the ball at its 26 with 32 seconds left in regulation in a tie game, and the Hawkeyes’ offense hadn’t done much since the first quarter.

Instead of being content to play for overtime against border rival Nebraska, coach Kirk Ferentz went for the win Friday.

The Hawkeyes got it when Keith Duncan kicked a 48-yard field goal with one second left, giving No. 19 Iowa a 27-24 victory over Nebraska that leaves the Cornhuskers out of the postseason for a third consecutive season.

“We thought we had a chance if we executed,” Ferentz said. “There’s some risk and reward involved there. We thought the reward outweighed the risk. At least we came out the right side this time.”

The Hawkeyes (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten) beat the Huskers (5-7, 3-6) for a fifth straight year and second year in a row on a late field goal.

Duncan, who walked on to Iowa in 2016, had more to celebrate than just helping the Hawkeyes hold onto the Heroes Game trophy for at least another year. Ferentz announced after the game that he was giving Duncan a scholarship.

“The culmination of all these four years of hard work,” said Duncan, who also kicked a 49-yarder against the Huskers and now owns the Big Ten single-season record with 29. “These 12 weeks have been really hard for us, just working 100%. There’s been some setbacks, but we finished here. Team goals will lead to individual goals, and that’s where we are today.”

Iowa, which had its 14-point lead wiped out in the third quarter, got the ball back after forcing a Nebraska punt in the final minute. Nate Stanley had a long pass to Nico Ragaini overturned to incomplete on video review, but then completed a pair of 22-yard passes to Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Sam LaPorta to bring on the reliable Duncan.

The Huskers called two timeouts before Duncan drilled the winner down the middle and with plenty of distance.

“Every field goal I’m hungry for, especially in a situation like that with tough conditions,” Duncan said. “That’s why you become a kicker. You’ve got to be hungry and not scared.”

After the ball went through, holder Colten Rastetter and Duncan ran toward the Nebraska sideline. Rastetter pointed at the Huskers while Duncan blew kisses at them.

“Nebraska fans came for some entertainment, and that’s what it was, entertainment,” Duncan said. “Just having fun with it.”

Nebraska, down 24-10 at half, tied it with back-to-back touchdowns in the third quarter. Luke McCaffrey entered the game for a play in place of quarterback Adrian Martinez, rolled to his left and hit JD Spielman with a perfect 39-yard TD pass. The Huskers ran on 12 of 13 plays while covering 60 yards on their next drive, converting a fourth-and-6 before Wyatt Mazour ran in from 9 yards.

Smith-Marsette scored on a 45-yard on a reverse run and ran back a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and Tyler Goodson broke a 55-yard TD run as Iowa got out to its lead in the first half.

Iowa had 18 plays for 191 yards in the first quarter but just 131 yards on 38 plays for the remainder of the game. Iowa gained 11 yards in the second quarter and 7 in the third.

Stanley completed 11 of 24 passes for 99 yards, his lowest total since throwing for 86 against Maryland last year. Tyler Goodson ran 13 times for a season-high 116 yards.

The Huskers are in their longest bowl drought since 1955-61, but coach Scott Frost is encouraged by the progress the second half of the season.

“There’s a lot of things that needed to get fixed, and I think a lot of those have been addressed,” Frost said. “I think when you plant a seed, you don’t necessarily see sprouts right away. There’s a lot going on underneath the ground before you see things shooting out of it. I know a lot of things have gotten better.”

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Malachi Flynn scored all of his 28 points after halftime to lead San Diego State past Iowa 83-73 as the Aztecs rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit in Las Vegas Invitational championship game on Friday night.

Flynn, the tournament’s MVP, also had five rebounds and four assists while going 9 of 9 from the free-throw line.

Jordan Schakel and Yanni Wetzell each had 14 points for the Aztecs (8-0) — their best start since 2010-11, when they were also was 8-0.

CJ Fredrick led Iowa (5-2) with 16 points. Connor McCaffery added 15 and Joe Toussaint had 13. Luka Garza, who is averaging over 20 points per game, had nine points on 3-for-8 shooting and eight rebounds.

San Diego State took the lead for good on Wetzell layup with 14:01 left after trailing by 16 with 3:05 remaining until halftime.

After the Aztecs led for most of the early portions of the first half, Iowa took the lead on a five-point possession, 20-17, after free throws by Toussaint and Garza. That also started a 22-4 run building Iowa’s largest lead at 37-21, before leading 41-32 at halftime.

This was the first meeting between the teams.

The Hawkeyes play at Syracuse on Tuesday.

w/ Chris Parks

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