The Kansas City Chiefs have released veteran linebacker Justin Houston after they were unable to work out a trade, freeing up $14 million in much-needed salary cap space. The 30-year-old Houston signed a $101 million, six-year deal with the Chiefs in 2015 that was at the time a record for a defensive player. But Houston has been slowed by injuries the past four seasons, and has been unable to replicate the 22-sack season that helped him land the contract.

He was due $15.25 million this season. The Chiefs will take on $7.1 million in dead money. Houston departs Kansas City having started 96 games and appearing in 102 over eight seasons. He had 78½ sacks to trail only Derrick Thomas, Tamba Hali and Neil Smith in franchise history.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Bradley rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half and earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2006, beating Northern Iowa 57-54 Sunday in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game. Elijah Childs scored 16 points and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye added 13 for fifth-seeded Bradley (20-14). The Braves advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time overall — in their last appearance, as a 13th seed, they beat Kansas and Pittsburgh before losing to Memphis.

AJ Green led sixth-seeded Northern Iowa (16-18) with 23 points. Northern Iowa went 8 of 20 from 3-point range and has made at least one 3-pointer in 628 successive games, the longest streak among MVC teams.

DALLAS (AP) — Texas Tech star Jarrett Culver has been voted Big 12 player of the year and coach Chris Beard has been honored as coach of the year after the Red Raiders shared the regular-season title with Kansas State. The league announced its awards Sunday.

The Wildcats’ Barry Brown was voted defensive player of the year and Dedric Lawson of Kansas was the newcomer of the year. Jaxson Hayes of Texas was freshman of the year, Lindell Wigginton of Iowa State was the best sixth man and Kristian Doolittle of Oklahoma was the most improved player.

Culver, Brown and Lawson were unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selections in voting conducted by the league’s coaches. They were joined by Kansas State’s Dean Wade and Iowa State’s Marial Shayok.

Hayes was joined on the second team by Texas Tech’s Matt Mooney, West Virginia’s Derek Culver, Makai Mason of Baylor and Desmond Bane of TCU.

The Northern Iowa Panther (16-17, 11-9) take on the Bradley Braves (19-14, 11-9) at Noon today (Sunday) in St. Louis, during the Missouri Valley Conference Tourney Championship at the Enterprise Center. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last played on Feb. 6, when the Braves shot 54.9 percent from the field while holding Northern Iowa to just 44.6 percent en route to the eight-point victory.

Bradley’s Elijah Childs has averaged 12.1 points and 7.9 rebounds while Darrell Brown has put up 14.9 points. For the Panthers, AJ Green has averaged 14.7 points while Wyatt Lohaus has put up 10.5 points. Green has connected on 34.3 percent of the 198 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 9 of 25 over his last five games. He’s also made 85.7 percent of his foul shots this season.

Northern Iowa is a perfect 13-0 when its defense holds opponents to a field goal percentage of 43.8 percent or less. The Panthers are 3-17 when allowing the opposition to shoot any better than that. The Braves have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Panthers. Bradley has an assist on 41 of 63 field goals (65.1 percent) over its past three matchups while Northern Iowa has assists on 29 of 67 field goals (43.3 percent) during its past three games.

Bradley is ranked second among MVC teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 28.1 percent. The Braves have averaged 9.4 offensive boards per game.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Wyatt Lohaus had a career-high 27 points as Northern Iowa narrowly defeated Drake 60-58 in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday.

Trae Berhow had 12 points and six rebounds for Northern Iowa (16-17). Anthony Murphy had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (24-9). Tremell Murphy added 13 points.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Iowa’s Megan Gustafson flicked the ball away one last time Saturday night then pumped her fists and shouted with glee. Yes, the two-time Big Ten player of the year can finally forget about all those early exits and disappointing finishes and focus on becoming a conference champion. Gustafson scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds to help the 10th-ranked Hawkeyes fend off Rutgers’ frantic fourth-quarter charge and hold on for a 72-67 victory. Iowa will face No. 8 Maryland on Sunday in the title game. “It feels pretty great,” Gustafson said after posting her second double-double in two days. “Right now, this is kind of all we’ve got and we just have to keep it going. I’m just really excited to put it all out there tomorrow.”

While the Hawkeyes (25-6) have been in this situation before, Gustafson has not. Iowa last played for the tourney crown in 2014 and won its second and most recent title in 2001. In previous three trips to Indianapolis, though, Gustafson won only two games and never made it past the quarterfinal round. The postseason has been equally problematic with three wins in two trips to the WNIT and a first-round loss in her first NCAA Tournament appearance last season.

Now, if the Hawkeyes take down Maryland for the second time in a month, Gustafson will finally have the line she so desperately wants on an already stellar resume. The Hawkeyes are one win away from that elusive the conference crown. All that stands in their way is a rematch with No. 8 Maryland. Iowa won the only other meeting this season, 86-73 on its home court. But on a neutral court will be a more difficult challenge.
UP NEXT for Iowa: The conference’s regular-season runner-up will face regular-season champion Maryland in today’s (Sunday’s) title game. Pre-game at 4:45 on KJAN, with the tip-off at 5.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Bridget Carleton scored 18 points, Madison Wise had 15 with 10 rebounds and second-seeded Iowa State defeated 10th-seeded Kansas 75-58 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament on Saturday night.

Kristin Scott also had 15 points for the Cyclones (24-7), who play third-seeded and No. 21 Texas game in Sunday’s semifinals. It is the first semifinal appearance for Iowa State since 2013.

Iowa State, which opened league play with a 38-point win over Kansas and closed it with a 20-point win, shot 52 percent in the second half and 46 percent for the game. The Cyclones knocked down 10 3-pointers. Wise had her first double-double of the season.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Becca Hittner scored 21 points and No. 22 Drake rolled by Bradley 95-63 on Saturday to wrap up its third consecutive outright Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title. Up next is the conference tournament in Moline, Illinois, beginning Thursday. Drake and Bradley have first-round byes. The Bulldogs (25-5, 17-1) won their 10th straight game after shooting 58 percent, making 9 of 20 from the arc and 26 of 31 free throws. Drake outrebounded the Braves 47-26.

Sara Rhine added 12 points and nine rebounds and Maddy Dean also had 12 points. Drake led by 13 after one quarter, 22 at halftime and 32 heading into the final period. Shunseere Kent led Bradley (20-9, 10-8) with a career-high 25 points. Gabi Haack added 13 points. The Braves shot 31 percent and made only 5 of 24 3-point attempts. Drake swept the season series, having won at Bradley 92-63 on Jan. 4.

The Kansas City Chiefs bolstered their young, relatively unproven backfield Saturday by signing veteran running back Carlos Hyde to a $2.8 million contract for the 2019 season. The deal includes $1.6 million guaranteed, a person familiar with the terms told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the terms were not disclosed. The 28-year-old Hyde was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday, and the Chiefs moved swiftly in inviting him for a visit. They were seeking help behind Damien Williams and Darrel Williams, who became their top two running backs when Kareem Hunt was released last season.

“We certainly like a bigger back,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said during last week’s scouting combine. “I certainly have a thing for 220-pound backs that can run and catch and block.” The 6-foot, 229-pound Hyde certainly fits that mold. He was a second-round pick of the 49ers in 2014, and he came within 50 yards of eclipsing 1,000 twice during his four-year stay in San Francisco. Hyde signed a $15 million, three-year deal with the Browns last season, but he appeared in just six games before a midseason trade to Jacksonville. Hyde wound up making two starts and appearing in eight games for the Jaguars, though he never made much of an impact. He finished with 58 carries for 189 yards and never reached the end zone, and the Jaguars decided Friday to release him when no trade opportunities materialized.

Still, he represents a low-risk, high-upside addition to a dynamic Chiefs offense. With league MVP Patrick Mahomes under center, the Chiefs shattered just about every franchise record — and quite a few NFL marks — while reaching the AFC title game last season. And while most of their pressing issues lie on defense, Veach and Chiefs coach Andy Reid said they’d be open to any offseason moves that could potentially put them over the hump. Damien Williams is expected to remain the starter after he assumed Hunt’s job, and he gouged Indianapolis for 129 yards rushing in the playoffs. In fact, Williams was so steady that Kansas City signed him in December to a two-year extension worth up to $8.1 million.

“He just needed an opportunity. And when the opportunity presented itself, he kind of took it and ran with it. That is why we extended him,” Veach said. “He’s always been a talented player. He can run, catch and block. He can really do everything. He was great on special teams. I would say going into the offseason and going into the 2019 season, it’s Damien’s job to lose.”
He’ll have a little more competition now, though.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Jarrett Culver scored a career-high 31 points, Davide Moretti added 20 and No. 8 Texas Tech clinched its first Big 12 regular-season title Saturday by beating Iowa State 80-73.

Matt Mooney added 13 points for the Red Raiders (26-5, 14-4 Big 12), winners of nine straight heading into the postseason. Their last league crown came in the defunct Southwestern Conference in 1996.

Lindell Wigginton and Marial Shayok each scored 17 points for the Cyclones (20-11, 9-9), who have lost six of eight. The Cyclones tweaked their lineup after a 90-75 loss at West Virginia on Wednesday. Freshman George Conditt got the rotational front court minutes typically given to sophomore Cam Lard, and senior Zoran Talley was a much bigger part of the game plan.

Coach Steve Prohm likes to settle on a rotation in December and stick with it, so it’ll be interesting to see if those changes remain in the Big 12 tournament.
UP NEXT
The league tournament starts Wednesday in Kansas City.