BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Maybe this was only fitting: Two players named Wright got Colorado’s season started on the right foot. Namon Wright scored 25 points and McKinley Wright IV added 17, helping the Buffaloes pull away in the second half to beat Drake 100-71 on Tuesday night in their season opener.

Coming off the bench, Namon Wright — a senior guard — hit 8 of 12 shots to establish a new high while at Colorado. His overall career-best is 28 set on Feb. 24, 2015, while playing for Missouri. At more than 29 minutes, he saw more court time than any other Colorado player.

Tyler Bey had nine points and 14 rebounds as the Buffaloes (1-0) moved to 9-0 in home openers under Boyle. McKinley Wright picked up where he left off in the assist department with six. He broke Chauncey Billups’ freshman record for assists a season ago with 175.

The Buffaloes showed some early rust, but relied on their stingy defense until the offense found some rhythm. They out-rebounded Drake by a 44-29 margin and kept the turnovers to a minimum — until garbage time. The Bulldogs kept up with Colorado when the 3-pointers were falling. They were 7 of 18 in the first half from long range, and 4 of 19 in the second.

It was a Drake-themed night with the school from Iowa in town, filled with plenty of music from the rapper/song writer. There was a Drake trivia contest and a name-that-tune challenge. Even the Buffaloes’ mascot got into the act by dressing in Drake-style clothing.
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Drake faces Texas State on Saturday in the first of three straight games at home.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Megan Gustafson scored 29 points, making all 13 of her shots, Makenzie Meyer made five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points and No. 13 Iowa beat Western Kentucky 104-67 on Tuesday night.

Gustafson became the second player in program history to surpass 1,000 career rebounds with six boards in the first half. She scored 12 straight Iowa points spanning the third-quarter break.

Hannah Stewart added 14 points for Iowa (3-0), which has its highest ranking since the Feb. 16, 2016.
Iowa led 50-36 at halftime behind Gustafson’s 13 points and six rebounds. Meyer and Alexis Sevillian each scored 11 points. The Hawkeyes had 18 assists on 22 field goals, and shot 64.7 percent from the field. The Hilltoppers were held to just 10 points in the third quarter, and trailed 79-46.

Raneem Elgedawy and Alexis Brewer each scored 14 points — with 26 coming in the first half — for Western Kentucky (0-3), which faced ranked Louisville in its opener and later Oklahoma.

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

UNDATED (AP) — Iowa tight end Noah Fant has 18 career touchdowns, the best in school history. Yet the Hawkeyes are mired in a three-game losing streak and Fant hasn’t caught a touchdown in four straight games. Coach Kirk Ferentz says Iowa is better if it can get the ball to Fant, a junior who is likely an NFL draft pick when he decides to leave school. Iowa is a 16-point favorite in Saturday’s game at Illinois.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Namon Wright scored 25 points and McKinley Wright IV added 17, helping Colorado pull away in the second half to beat Drake 100-71. Tyler Bey added nine points and 14 rebounds as the Buffaloes (1-0) moved to 9-0 in home openers under coach Tad Boyle.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer became the fifth Division I women’s basketball coach to win 1,000 games when the Scarlet Knights beat Central Connecticut State 73-44. Stringer joined Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma, Tara VanDerveer and Sylvia Hatchell in the 1,000-victory club.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — No. 18 Iowa State will be without junior David Montgomery, one of its best players, for the first half of one of the bigger games in recent school history. How the Cyclones fare for 30 minutes without their star running back could decide whether they can stay alive for a spot in the Big 12 title game. Montgomery will miss the first two quarters of a showdown at No. 13 Texas on Saturday after being ejected for throwing a punch during last week’s win over Baylor.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes walked off the field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday with another record on his resume and the Kansas City Chiefs another win toward earning the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. He didn’t have much chance to enjoy any of it. Mahomes quickly learned that the stepfather of his longtime girlfriend, Brittany Matthews, had died after a medical emergency during the game.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NFL has moved the Los Angeles Rams’ Monday night showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs from Mexico City to Los Angeles due to the poor condition of the field at Azteca Stadium. The league made its decision just six days before one of the most-anticipated regular-season games of the year. Recent rains and several big events at Azteca combined to damage the field, and the league determined it was unplayable.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NFL moved the Rams’ Monday night showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs from Mexico City to Los Angeles on Tuesday due to the poor condition of the field at Azteca Stadium.

The league announced the extraordinary decision six days before one of the most-anticipated regular-season games of the year.

In a news release, the league said it determined that the recently re-sodded field at Mexico City’s historic stadium “does not meet NFL standards for playability and consistency, and will not meet those standards by next Monday.”

The Rams (9-1) will host the Chiefs (9-1) at the Coliseum instead.

The decision creates a morass of logistical concerns for the teams and for fans traveling to Mexico, and it disappoints thousands of fans eager to see a marquee matchup. But the league consulted with the players’ association and local officials before deciding it couldn’t risk the players’ health on a damaged field.

“The combination of a difficult rainy season and a heavy multi-event calendar of events at the stadium have resulted in significant damage to the field that presents unnecessary risks to player safety and makes it unsuitable to host an NFL game,” said Mark Waller, the NFL’s executive vice president of international. “As a result, we have determined that moving the game is the right decision, and one that we needed to announce now in order to allow our teams and fans to make alternate arrangements.”

Azteca officials changed the playing surface from natural grass to a hybrid in May, but the turf hasn’t been ideal for several months. Concern about the field grew in recent days when aerial photos of the stadium showed serious damage to the grass, particularly on the end of the stadium recently used for a major concert.

Cruz Azul, the Liga MX soccer club that shares the stadium with Club America, played a tournament game on the field last Saturday in noticeably poor conditions. Coach Pedro Caixinha expressed concern, and the NFL continued working with groundskeepers to improve the field.

Azteca hosted the first regular-season game ever held outside the U.S. in 2005 when Arizona beat San Francisco. The stadium has hosted several NFL exhibitions, and the Oakland Raiders, Houston Texans and New England Patriots all played regular-season games there over the past two seasons.