AMES, Iowa (AP) — Georges Niang scored a career-high 31 points and matched his career high with 12 rebounds as No. 4 Iowa State beat Buffalo 84-63 on Monday night. Niang’s first double-double of the season was crucial for the Cyclones (7-0), who let the Bulls get within 47-46 early in the second half.

Iowa State responded with an 11-0 run and a late closing push to remain one of the nation’s last unbeaten teams. Jarryn Skeete led Buffalo (4-5) with 16 points. The loss capped a brutal three-day stretch for the Bulls, who lost 82-59 at No. 8 Duke on Saturday.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Essex 45, Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 44
Iowa School for the Deaf 44, East Mills 42
Nishnabotna 65, Heartland Christian 16
Whiting 54, Charter Oak-Ute 41

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Charter Oak-Ute 67, Whiting 20
East Mills 15, Iowa School for the Deaf 12
Nishnabotna 53, Heartland Christian 6

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — More than 40,000 people are expected to descend upon Lawrence in July 2017 after the city was selected to host the USA Track & Field Junior Olympic Championships. The city beat out Des Moines, Iowa, to host the event. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the nation’s top track and field athletes between the ages of 7 and 18 will compete at Rock Chalk Park in northwest Lawrence.

Organizers say about 9,500 athletes and 33,000 family members, coaches and spectators are expected to attend the championships. Lawrence will have about 1,400 hotel rooms by 2017, far short of what is needed. The city’s visitor’s bureau is working to arrange rooms in Topeka, Overland Park, Olathe and Kansas City during the championships, which will run July 23 through July 30, 2017.

UNDATED (AP) — Michigan State is No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time since early in the 2013-14 season. The Spartans (9-0) jumped from third to a runaway first following last week’s losses by then-Nos. 1 and 2 Kentucky and Maryland. Michigan State received 62 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel.

Kansas (6-1), which had one first-place vote, moved from fourth to second, while North Carolina, the preseason No. 1, jumped from ninth to third and received two votes for No. 1. Iowa State moved up one spot to fourth and was followed by Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, Duke, Villanova and Virginia.

Butler, at No. 18, and Utah, at No. 25, are the week’s newcomers, both having been ranked earlier this season. They replace Syracuse, which was No. 14, and Texas A&M, which was 18th.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brian Bartow of the St. Louis Cardinals has won the Robert O. Fishel Award for public relations excellence, given annually by Major League Baseball. Bartow, the Cardinals’ director of communications, interned with St. Louis in 1985, was hired full-time as assistant director of public relations in 1987 and became director of media relations in 1994.

The award, announced Monday at the winter meetings, is named after the inaugural winner, who worked for the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns, New York Yankees and the American League.

Dan Hill Invitational at Harlan

Gretna- 237pts
Glenwood- 199.5pts
Logan Magnolia- 199pts
Winterset- 114pts
Ashland-Greenwood 103.5pts

Treynor Tournament

AHSTW- 256pts
Treynor- 229pts
Panorama- 205pts
Exira-EHK- 144pts
East Mills 134pts

Coach Riley Invitational at Greenfield

Bedford/Lenox- 155pts
Clarinda- 154ptsDenison-Schleswig- 146.5pts
Guthrie Center- 143.5pts
Mount Ayr- 104.5pts

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Jeremy Maclin had two touchdowns catches after fourth-quarter interceptions and Tyvon Branch returned a third interception from Derek Carr for a game-clinching score against his former team and the Kansas City Chiefs rallied for their sixth straight win, 34-20 over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

The Raiders (5-7) were leading by six points and driving for more when Carr’s mistakes changed the tide of the game and helped keep the Chiefs (7-5) in the lead in the AFC wild-card race. Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third score and Maclin had 95 yards on nine catches to lead the Chiefs.

Carr threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns, but his three fourth-quarter interceptions sent Oakland to its fourth loss in five games.

As expected, it will be Iowa vs. Stanford in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1st, featuring the Big Ten Conference runner-up against the Pac 12-champion Cardinal and their Heisman contender Christian McCaffrey. Also on Jan. 1, the Sugar Bowl will match Mississippi against Oklahoma State and the Fiesta Bowl has Notre Dame against Ohio State. Michigan State handed Iowa its first loss in the Big Ten title game to move into the playoffs.

In other Bowl news:

SUN BOWL: Miami and Washington State are headed to the Southwest for the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 26. The Hurricanes closed out a tumultuous season with an 8-4 record after firing coach Al Golden after a 58-0 loss to Clemson, and recently hiring former Georgia coach Mark Richt as their new coach. The Cougars are a surprising 8-4 and are in their second bowl in the last three seasons under coach Mike Leach. Washington State is led by sophomore quarterback Luke Falk, who averages 387.8 yards passing per game — tops in the country. Falk missed the Cougars’ final game of the regular season with a concussion.

PEACH BOWL: Houston and its high-scoring offense will take on Florida State on New Year’s Eve in the Peach Bowl. The Seminoles (10-2, No. 9 CFP) won the national championship two years ago and reached the college football playoffs last season, losing to Oregon in the semifinals. Coach Jimbo Fisher’s team lost to Georgia Tech and No. 1 Clemson. Houston (12-1, No. 18 CFP) claimed a spot in a major bowl as the top-ranked team from the Group of Five conferences. The Cougars won the American Athletic Conference.

ST. PETERSBURG BOWL: Marshall and Connecticut are going to the St. Petersburg Bowl on Dec. 26. Marshall (9-3) is looking for its third bowl win in as many seasons, and brings coach Doc Holliday back to Florida — a place where he’s recruited well. The Herd won the Boca Raton Bowl last year. Connecticut (6-6) was 3-5 at one point, then finished with three wins in its last four games. The Huskies also knocked off Houston, probably the biggest reason why they ended up bowl-bound for the first time since their Fiesta Bowl run to end the 2010 season. Tropicana Field — home of baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays — is the game site.

FIESTA BOWL: The Fiesta Bowl gets another marquee matchup. The New Year’s Day bowl will feature Ohio State and Notre Dame, two teams in the college football playoff mix until late in the season. The defending champion Buckeyes (11-1) lost their only game to Michigan State and needed help to get into college football’s final four. They didn’t get it and wind up No. 7 in the final CFP ranking. Notre Dame (10-2) fought through a slew of injuries to finish four points shy of a perfect record. The Fighting Irish are No. 8 in the final rankings.

NEW ORLEANS BOWL: Arkansas State and Louisiana Tech will meet for the first time since 1998 when they play in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 19. Arkansas State (9-3) won the Sun Belt Conference after a dominant 55-17 win over Texas State on Saturday. Louisiana Tech (8-4) finished second in Conference USA’s Western Division. The Bulldogs are led by former Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel, who transferred during the offseason and has thrown for 3,575 yards and 24 touchdowns.

MIAMI BEACH BOWL: Western Kentucky and South Florida are heading to the Miami Beach Bowl on Dec. 21. Western Kentucky (11-2) won the Conference USA title and features quarterback Brandon Doughty, who leads the nation with 45 touchdown passes this season. South Florida (8-4) finished on a four-game winning streak, and has a chance for its first nine-win season since 2007. USF has won the last four meetings between the schools, the last of those coming in 2010. The game is played at Marlins Park — about a 15-minute drive from Miami Beach. Last season, the bowl debuted with Memphis topping BYU 55-48.

ORANGE BOWL: Pizza for 20,000! A huge pizza party is taking place at Death Valley to celebrate Clemson’s unbeaten season and college playoff berth to play Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31. Coach Dabo Swinney is making good on his promise for a postseason pizza shindig at Memorial Stadium. About a month ago, the coach said it’d be pizza for everyone it the Tigers made the playoffs. Swinney told crowd, “I know I open my mouth sometimes, but this is incredible.” Swinney had wide grin on his face most of the time, and raised both fists in the air, pumping them to the fans’ applause when Clemson was announced as the top seed. Fans dressed in purple and orange filled half the lower bowl at the 81,000-seat stadium.

BAHAMAS BOWL: Western Michigan will face Middle Tennessee on Dec. 24 in the Bahamas Bowl at Nassau’s Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. The Broncos (7-5) earned a share of the Mid-American Conference West title and are in their second straight bowl after winning six of their past eight. They have the top receiving duo in the country in Daniel Braverman and Corey Davis. Middle Tennessee (7-5) of Conference USA takes a four-game win streak to the Bahamas for their first bowl since 2013. The Blue Raiders are led by a pair of freshmen in QB Brent Stockstill and receiver Richie James.

COTTON BOWL: Alabama and Michigan State have been to the Cotton Bowl before, and not too long ago. This time, the teams will be at AT&T Stadium to play each other in the college football playoff semifinals on Dec. 31. The Big Ten champion Spartans completed last season on New Year’s Day playing in their first Cotton Bowl. The SEC champion Crimson Tide opened this season with a victory over Wisconsin at the stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys. The matchup is just the second between the teams. Alabama beat Michigan State 49-7 in the 2011 Capital One Bowl. Alabama’s Nick Saban was the coach at Michigan State from 1995-1999 before leaving for LSU, the Miami Dolphins and moving on to Tuscaloosa in 2007.

The starting times for the college football playoff games are set, according to ESPN. No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 4 Oklahoma starts at 4 p.m. on Dec. 31 in the Orange Bowl; and No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Michigan State starts at 8 p.m. on Dec. 31 in the Cotton Bowl.