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

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Luka Garza scored 27 points to reach another milestone and No. 8 Iowa beat Michigan State 84-78. Garza, who came into the game as the nation’s leading scorer at 26.4 points per game, became the second 2,000-point scorer in program history. Garza, who has 2,009 points, is 107 points behind all-time leading scorer Roy Marble. The Hawkeyes (13-4, 7-3 Big Ten) led 79-70 before the Spartans (8-7, 2-7) went on an 8-1 run. Michigan State had a chance to tie the game after forcing a shot-clock violation, but Joshua Langford missed a jumper with 24 seconds left. Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon closed the game with four consecutive free throws.

UNDATED (AP) — Eric Bieniemy has become the focal point when it comes to discussions about minority assistants who have been denied the opportunity to become head coaches in the NFL. Three years as the coordinator of one of the league’s most prolific offenses in Kansas City has led to several interviews for Bieniemy but no promotions to a head coaching job. Bieniemy says he doesn’t want to be the “poster boy” for the issue and is focused on beating Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It takes hitting at a high percentage on late-round fliers and undrafted rookies to be able to carry the size of contracts that Kansas City has lavished on its stars. Well, the Chiefs have 22 players on their roster they chose in the third round or later or went undrafted entirely, including 10 that are expected to start against Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl. There are plenty of reasons why the Chiefs are so successful at finding and developing overlooked talent, ranging from Chiefs coach Andy Reid and his staff to a locker room confident and secure in itself to impart whatever wisdom they can on their teammates.

UNDATED (AP) — Clyde Christensen mentored Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning before he became Tom Brady’s quarterbacks coach this season. Tom Moore worked with Manning, Terry Bradshaw and many others before the 82-year-old assistant got a chance to coach Brady. Christensen and Moore are quarterback whisperers on a staff led by Bruce Arians, who once wrote a book called: “The Quarterback Whisperer.” Having an opportunity to win a Super Bowl with Brady is an excellent way to cap stellar careers, though none of the coaches are ready for retirement.

UNDATED (AP) — LeSean McCoy has watched both Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady up close the past two seasons. And he has a slam dunk comparison for the star quarterbacks. McCoy says he’s a huge fan of both Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan and he sees Brady like Jordan as established and older maybe lacking the big air dunk but beating teams with the fadeaway. McCoy says Mahomes is the young Kobe coming with the league aware of him. McCoy would know. He won the Super Bowl with Mahomes last year and now is chasing another title with Brady’s Bucs.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nine years and a pair of career-threatening injuries later, Jason Pierre-Paul is back in the Super Bowl and ready to wreak havoc. The relentless pass rusher helped the 2011 New York Giants beat Tom Brady in the NFL title game. This time, he’s trying to help the six-time champion win a record seventh ring in the 43-year-old quarterback’s first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Pierre-Paul was traded from the Giants to the Bucs three years ago and is one of just six players on Tampa Bay’s roster with previous experience on football’s biggest stage.

UNDATED (AP) — A 10th trip to the Super Bowl puts Tom Brady in some exclusive company across sports. Brady’s 10th trip to the title round comes a few months after LeBron James did the same in the NBA Finals, making them the only players in the four major North American sports leagues to do that in more than 30 years. Brady and James are the first players to make it to the title round for a 10th time since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in his final season in the NBA in 1989. Twenty-four players have done it overall led by Yogi Berra’s 14 World Series appearances.

Quad

Carroll 36, Lewis Central 28
Carroll 42, ADM 27
Carroll 55, Perry 21
Lewis Central 46, ADM 33
Lewis Central 65, Perry 6
ADM 46, Perry 17

Triangular

East Mills 42, Southwest Iowa 36
East Mills 54, East Atchison, MO 18
Southwest Iowa 72, East Atchison, MO 6

The Atlantic girls basketball team clamped down defensively against Red Oak in the second quarter and turned a 2 point lead after the first into a 13 point lead by half. The Trojans then raced away to a 77-40 victory on Tuesday night at the Atlantic High School.

Haley Rasmussen had a terrific night with 36 points and was a big part of the defensive pressure that flustered the Tigers. Jada Jensen was also great defensively and finished with 18 points as she teamed up with Rasmussen on the break much of the night. Atlantic forced the Tigers into 17 turnovers and many of those directly translated to layups for the Trojans.

Atlantic improved to 7-11 on the season with the win and will now prep for a trip to Denison on Friday night.

Red Oak was led by 14 points from Chloe DeVries and the Tigers fell to 3-13 on the season.

Watch the full game replay HERE.

The Atlantic boys basketball team fought their way to a 65-57 home win over Red Oak on Tuesday night. The Atlantic was able to build a couple of nice leads through the night and fended up a couple of comeback attempts from the Tigers.

The Trojans got a couple late buckets to end the first half with an 8 point lead 32-24. Red Oak clawed back within 2 early in the third quarter but the Trojans responded with an 11-0 run to end the quarter and lead 46-33. The Tigers kept fighting hard toward the finish but Atlantic did enough down the stretch to secure the win and improve to 8-5.

Skyler Handlos only had 2 points in the first half, but finished with a team high 17 by the end of the night. Grant Sturm had 12 and Dayton Templeton finished with 11. The Trojans will now prep for road games at Denison on Friday and St. Albert on Saturday.

The Tigers were led by 18 points from Baylor Bergren and 12 from Bradley Sifford. Red Oak falls to 7-9 on the season and will get ready to host Nodaway Valley on Thursday before heading to Creston on Friday.

Listen to Atlantic Coach Jeff Ebling’s postgame comments below and watch the full game replay HERE.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Atlantic 77, Red Oak 40 (ATL: Haley Rasmussen 36 pts, Jada Jensen 18pts)
Denison-Schleswig 55, Spencer 41
Harlan 88, Kuemper Catholic 45
Millard South, NE 107, Glenwood 83 (G: Elle Scarborough 26pts, reaches over 1,000 pts for her career.)

Western Iowa Conference

AHSTW 45, Logan-Magnolia 44
Audubon 56, IKM-Manning 46 (AUD: Jaci Christensen became Wheeler career rebounding leader. 573 for her career now.)
Treynor 38, Underwood 24

Rolling Valley Conference

CAM 59, Woodbine 54
Coon Rapid-Bayard 56, West Harrison 29
Exira-EHK 55, Ar-We-Va 32
Paton-Churdan vs Glidden-Ralston

Corner Conference

Griswold 36, East Mills 25
Sidney 62, Essex 35
Stanton 43, Fremont-Mills 35

Pride of Iowa Conference

Bedford 55, Southwest Valley 51
Central Decatur 59, Wayne 46
Nodaway Valley 59, Mount Ayr 42 (NV: Maddax Devault 20pts. Wolverines move to 19-0 and win POI Conference Title)
Southeast Warren 66, Martensdale-St Marys 49

Other Scores

AC/GC vs. West Central Valley
Bishop Heelan 51, CB Thomas Jefferson 26
Mormon Trail 54, Orient-Macksburg 34
Panorama 70, Ogden 23

BOYS BASKETBALL

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Atlantic 65, Red Oak 57 (ATL: Skyler Handlos 17pts, Grant Sturm 12pts)
Glenwood 70, Clarinda 58
Grand View Christian 82, Creston 40
Kuemper Catholic 61, Harlan 47
Spencer 57, Denison-Schleswig 51
St. Albert 60, Shenandoah 48

Western Iowa Conference

AHSTW 67, Logan-Magnolia 61 OT
Audubon 38, IKM-Manning 33 (A: Gavin Smith 10pts)
Treynor 68, Underwood 57

Rolling Valley Conference

CAM 63, Woodbine 37
Exira-EHK 45, Ar-We-Va 36 (E: Trey Petersen 19pts)

Corner Conference

East Mills 71, Griswold 37
Sidney 73, Essex 23
Stanton 57, Fremont-Mills 51

Pride of Iowa Conference

Central Decatur 65, Wayne 45
Nodaway Valley 66, Mount Ayr 53 (NV: Co-Coach Darrell Burmeister reaches 600 career wins)

Other Scores

Carroll 77, Bondurant-Farrar 66
CB Abraham Lincoln 77, Sioux City West 50
Mormon Trail 75, Orient-Macksburg 33
Panorama 66, Ogden 46

By ANDREW LOGUE Associated Press
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Taz Sherman hit two free throws with 6.4 seconds remaining and finished with 18 points as No. 17 West Virginia held on to beat Iowa State 76-72. Sherman was 5 of 7 from the floor and made 7 of 8 shots from the line to lead the Mountaineers. Solomon Young returned after missing two games due to COVID-related issues and scored 15 points. Tyler Harris also scored 15 points for Iowa State.

By JOHN BOHNENKAMP Associated Press
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Luka Garza scored 27 points to reach another milestone and No. 8 Iowa beat Michigan State 84-78. Garza, who came into the game as the nation’s leading scorer at 26.4 points per game, became the second 2,000-point scorer in program history. Garza, who has 2,009 points, is 107 points behind all-time leading scorer Roy Marble. The Hawkeyes (13-4, 7-3 Big Ten) led 79-70 before the Spartans (8-7, 2-7) went on an 8-1 run. Michigan State had a chance to tie the game after forcing a shot-clock violation, but Joshua Langford missed a jumper with 24 seconds left. Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon closed the game with four consecutive free throws.