MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Garrett Sturtz scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Drake to an 80-70 victory over Kansas State in a basketball season opener. Sturtz made all three of his field-goal attempts and 9 of 10 free throws, including four in the final 1:19 when the Bulldogs made 10 straight from the line to pull away.

Tremell Murphy scored 12 points with seven rebounds and Shanquan Hemphill added 10 points, including a dunk to put Drake ahead for good with 7:24 remaining. Wildcats senior Mike McGuirl scored a career-high 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting and DaJuan Gordon, a sophomore, tied his personal best with 15 points.

(Radio Iowa)n – The pheasant season opened on October 31st with a lot of optimism about bird numbers and the prospects for a good season. Iowa D-N-R wildlife biologist, Todd Bogenschutz says a lack of phone calls to his office tells him things are looking good. “I haven’t gotten hardly any calls at all –so that means it’s going well,” Bogenschutz says. “Because, if it’s going bad I get the complaints.”

He says the one complaint he’s gotten is a lack of birds in eastern Iowa near Davenport. Bogenschutz says that’s due to a lack of habitat there. He says everything heading into the opener pointed to the potential for success. “We kind of expected that things would be pretty decent. It was a little hard with the roadside counts and the drought, because that does impact the birds that we count. Generally in those regions where the counts weren’t as good, people are pretty pleasantly surprised,”Bogenschutz says. “The weather has been pretty challenging. We’ve had a lot of windy days, some dry days, warm days at least in the first part of the season that make hunting challenging.”

He says calm winds make it easier for dogs to smell the birds and keeps them from moving. “A little bit of snow and the lack of wind is generally ideal. The birds tend to hold better when its calmer and scenting conditions are a better when we’ve got a little moisture,” he says. Bogenschutz says they will have some exact numbers when they get the survey information in after the season ends.

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota is calling off its scheduled game Saturday at rival Wisconsin due to COVID-19 cases within the program. The Gophers said they had nine players and six staff members test positive over the last five days, with more presumed positive results pending. The move likely knocks the 18th-ranked Badgers out of consideration for the Big Ten championship game. This weekend’s scheduled Utah-Arizona State and Tulsa-Houston matchups also have been scrapped. Utah was rescheduled to face Washington on Saturday. A total of 10 scheduled games this week involving Football Bowl Subdivision teams have been postponed or canceled.

UNDATED (AP) — Alabama is No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season, followed by Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State. Texas A&M was fifth and Florida was sixth, followed by unbeaten Cincinnati at seventh, the best ranking for a non-Power Five team in the seven-year history of the selection committee’s rankings.

UNDATED (AP) — The NFL has set its pairings for the league’s first Saturday doubleheader this season. The Buffalo Bills will visit the Denver Broncos on Dec. 19 at 4:30 p.m. ET. That will be followed by the Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers kicking off at 8:15 p.m. ET. The NFL had five games to choose from for the first Saturday doubleheader with teams told only that they would play either Dec. 19 or Dec. 20 when the league announced schedules earlier this year.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A person familiar with the situation says restricted free agent Brandon Ingram has agreed to a five-year, $158 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. Ingram is the NBA’s reigning most improved player after averaging a team-high 23.8 points in his first season with the Pelicans.

MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat have agreed on a contract extension that will be worth at least $163 million over five seasons starting in 2021-22. Adebayo will make $5.1 million this season, the final year of his rookie contract. From there, the extension will kick in with a starting salary of somewhere around $28.1 million for the 2021-22 season. And if he makes an All-NBA team this season his annual salary would only rise more.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tampa Bay outfielder Randy Arozarena has been arrested in Mexico’s Yucatan state for a situation involving an apparent custody dispute. A prosecutors’ office says Arozarena was detained “for problems relating to his ex-partner.” He has not been formally charged yet. The office did not explain those problems. Video posted on social media suggested it may have involved a dispute over a child.

(By ERIC OLSON AP College Football Writer) –
With the COVID-19 pandemic causes problems across college football, this would seem to be the kind of season that would test a player’s love of the game. Iowa State tight end Chase Allen doesn’t see it that way. Allen told reporters he’s having a blast this year. The 15th-ranked Cyclones are in first place in the Big 12.

Iowa State tight end Charlie Kolar, left, celebrates with teammate Chase Allen, right, after catching a 6-yard touchdown pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Kansas State, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

They play at No. 20 Texas on Friday with a chance to lock up a spot in the conference championship game for the first time.

ADM 66, Van Meter 46
CAM 59, AHSTW 54 (Marissa Spieker and Reese Snyder each had 11 points and Mallory Behnken had 10 for CAM)
Lenox 75, Clarinda 39
Mount Ayr 58, Lamoni 37
Newell-Fonda 80, Kuemper Catholic 40
Treynor 41, CB Thomas Jefferson 12
Twin Cedars 29, Orient-Macksburg 23

POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS

Atlantic vs. Densison-Schleswig ppd to 1/16
Shenandoah vs. Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln, ppd.

(Des Moines) – With many holiday gatherings put on hold due to the pandemic, pheasant hunting is one way to keep an annual holiday tradition alive, while staying apart. “Pheasant hunting is a big part of Thanksgiving for many families but with health experts advising against gatherings, this tradition won’t look the same as in year’s past, but it can still be part of the holiday,” said Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  He said hunters who do not live in the same house are encouraged to drive separately to the hunting spot and when they arrive, to space out and not congregate while in the field.

What they’ll find in the field is a pheasant season that’s off to a good start. “I’m hearing really good reports, good pheasant numbers from all parts of the state despite the state experiencing an unusual number of days with gale-force winds and temperatures in the 70s,” said Bogenschutz. “Everybody that’s hunting in good cover is finding and getting birds.” That’s good news heading in to the Thanksgiving holiday and might be just enough incentive to delay the trip to the couch until the afternoon hunt is completed.

Iowa’s pheasant season closes Jan. 10, 2021.

Places to Hunt

The Iowa DNR’s online hunting atlas lists nearly 700,000 acres of public hunting land, including 22,000 acres of land enrolled in the popular Iowa Habitat and Access Program (IHAP) allowing hunter access to private land.

Each area on the atlas includes a link to a map with property boundaries, the size of the area, habitat type, species of wildlife likely found, if nontoxic shot is required and more. The map is available as a downloadable pdf that can be printed or saved to a smartphone.

To view the atlas, go to www.iowadnr.gov/hunting and click on Places to Hunt and Shoot in the left column.

The Iowa Print Sports Writers Association All-State Football Teams have been released. Here’s a look at area honorees.

Class 1A

First Team

Lane Spieker, CAM
Ryan Stortenbecker, East Mills
Joey Schramm, Audubon
Seth Malcom, Fremont-Mills
Kale Pevestorf, Coon Rapids-Bayard
Gavin Smith, Audubon
Gus McNeill, East Union

Second Team

Layne Pryor, Woodbine
Cooper Langfelt, Fremont-Mills
Dylan Hoefer, Woodbine
Colby Rich, CAM
Ethan Klocke, Audubon
Jake Malcom, Fremont-Mills

Third Team

Will Ragaller, Ar-We-Va
Josh Ramirez, Coon Rapids-Bayard
Devin Whipple, Lenox
Joe Kauffman, CAM
Joel Klocke, Audubon
Cade Ticknor, CAM

Class A

First Team

Sam Rallis, St. Albert
Tallen Myers, SW Valley
Rex Johnsen, Logan-Magnolia
Sam Wilber, St. Albert
Tre Melby, Logan-Magnolia
Eddie Vlcek, Riverside
Drake Woods, Riverside
Caelen DeVault, Nodaway Valley

Second Team

Avery Phillippi, Nodaway Valley
Tony Ayase, Nodaway Valley

Third Team

Austin Kremkoski, Riverside
Gavin Maguire, Logan-Magnolia
Joe Hedger, Logan-Magnolia
Alex Ausdemore, Tri-Center
Rhett Bentley, Riverside
Jon Gebbie, Nodaway Valley

Class 1A

First Team

Evan Taylor, Panorama
Brayden Wollan, Underwood
Easton Eledge, Underwood
Chris Gardner, Underwood
Cayden Jensen, ACGC

Second Team

Domonic Walker, Panorama
Gavin Cornelison, ACGC
Lucas Leiferman, Panorama
Drew Taylor, Panorama

Third Team

Jared Wasson, Panorama
Victor Gonzalez, ACGC
Simon Wagner, Kuemper Catholic
Alex Ravlin, Underwood
Scott Pearson, Underwood

Class 2A

First Team

Nathan Barnes, Clarinda

Second Team

Colin Mullenix, Atlantic
Crew Howard, Clarinda
Cole Ridnour, Clarinda

Third Team

Bradyn Smith, Greene County
Brendan Atkinson, Atlantic
Jackson Morton, Greene County
Grant Sturm, Atlantic

Class 3A

First Team

Thomas Fidone, Lewis Central
Connor Frame, Harlan
Hunter Deyo, Lewis Central
Will McLaughlin, Harlan

Second Team

Logan Katzer, Lewis Central
Ryan Blum, Glenwood
Aidan Hall, Harlan
Nick Miller, Lewis Central
Silas Bales, Glenwood

Third Team

Jacob Schechinger, Harlan
Jameson Bieker, Harlan
Joseph Fah, Harlan
Colby Burg, Creston/O-M
Joey Moser, Harlan

Class 4A

Third Team

Timmy Thompson, Abraham Lincoln

Full teams HERE.

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(Radio Iowa) – Iowa sophomore forward Jack Nunge is expected to miss the Hawkeyes season opener on Wednesday against North Carolina Central. Nunge’s father, Mark, died over the weekend.

That’s Iowa coach Fran McCaffery who says Nunge is with his family in Indiana.