CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) – Fred VanVleet had 17 points, seven assists and two steals and No. 8 Wichita State remained unbeaten behind 62 percent shooting, opening Missouri Valley Conference play with an 82-67 victory over Southern Illinois on Thursday night.

Cleanthony Early scored 23 points for the Shockers (14-0, 1-0), the preseason conference favorites coming off a Final Four appearance. The 14-0 start is five wins better than the school’s previous best and the 14-game winning streak matches the school mark set in 1953-54 under coach Ralph Miller.

Sean O’Brien and Desmar Jackson had 19 points apiece for Southern Illinois (4-10, 0-1), which upset Wichita State at home last February the week after the Shockers had been knocked out of the Top 25. Coach Barry Hinson returned after missing one game due to the death of his son-in-law on Christmas.

Nick Wiggins added 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting for Wichita State.

Southern Illinois was out of it early despite 54 percent shooting. O’Brien topped his previous career best of 11 points.

Wichita State shot 59 percent to go with a 16-8 rebounding advantage and near error-free play while building a 49-32 halftime lead, committing its lone turnover with about 3 minutes to go.

The Shockers got contributions across the board with an 18-0 run over a span of 3:19 that made it 33-16 with just over 8 minutes to go. Darius Carter opened the run with consecutive baskets and the Shockers got three-point plays from Early and Van Vleet plus 3-pointers by Wiggins and Van Vleet.

Late in the half, Cotton and Early got behind the Southern Illinois defense on consecutive possessions in transition.

The Shockers are 30-8 on the road the last three seasons, best in the nation.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali remains out of practice with swelling in his left knee, leaving his status for this weekend’s playoff game in Indianapolis in question.

Right tackle Eric Fisher also missed the final workout at the Chiefs’ practice facility Thursday before the team departs for Saturday’s game. He strained his groin earlier in the week.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid won’t rule Hali out of the game and says it’s “just a matter of the swelling coming down.”

He adds: “It’s been up; it’s been down. We want to make sure we get it out of there.”

Hali is tied with Justin Houston for the team lead with 11 sacks. Houston will be returning to the lineup Saturday after missing six games with a dislocated right elbow.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – On at least three occasions this season, an opposing coach was asked what it takes to stop Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles. Each time, they came back with the exact same response.

“If you’ve got the answer,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said, “I’m all ears.”

That was before Kansas City played Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago at Arrowhead Stadium, and the Colts didn’t need to do much to stop Charles in a 23-7 victory. The Chiefs only gave him six touches in the second half, something coach Andy Reid lamented following the game.

It stands to reason that Kansas City will at least make the Colts do the job themselves when the teams meet in a wild-card playoff game Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Pagano calls Charles a “game wrecker” and a “home-run hitter.”

Two years after a devastating knee injury threatened his career, and one year after he was the lone bright spot in a blighted season, Charles has put together one of the finest campaigns in the history of a franchise that has had plenty of notable offensive stars.

He’s already run for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns, solid if unspectacular numbers unless you consider that he’s done it while averaging 5 yards per carry. He also has a career-best 70 catches for 693 yards and seven more touchdowns, giving him nearly 2,000 yards from scrimmage.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe has been cleared to play in Saturday’s wild-card playoff game against Indianapolis after sustaining a concussion against the Colts two weeks ago.

Bowe was among several starters held out of last week’s overtime loss at San Diego.

Kansas City could be without right tackle Eric Fisher, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft. He strained his groin near the end of Tuesday’s practice and was not working Wednesday.

Outside linebacker Tamba Hali’s status also remains up in the air. He’s been dealing with some inflammation in his knee that has kept him out of practice the last couple of weeks, though he planned to try working out during Wednesday’s practice.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Peyton Manning said his plan was to spend the Broncos’ bye week getting healthy and he’s doing just that.

The quarterback skipped practice Wednesday for the second consecutive day, something he hadn’t done since coming to Denver in 2012.

Manning said after the Broncos’ 47-14 rout of the Raiders on Sunday that earning the AFC’s No. 2 seed and a first-round bye was imperative because of the team’s long list of banged up players.

He counted himself in that group although he didn’t go into specifics. Two weeks ago, he strained his right thigh in a victory at San Diego when he was dehydrated from the flu.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Perry Ellis had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Naadir Tharpe added a career-high 20 points and No. 16 Kansas beat Toledo 93-83 on Monday night for the Rockets’ first loss of the season.

Andrew Wiggins also had 20 points and fellow freshman Joel Embiid had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Jayhawks (9-3), who built a 16-point lead early in the second half.

Toledo (12-1) made one final charge, using some hot outside shooting and sloppiness on the part of Kansas to get within 81-73 on a 3-pointer by Julius Brown with 3:23 left in the game.

Tharpe answered moments later with a free throw and then a driving layup off a miss, and Kansas finally put the game away when Frank Mason fed Wiggins on a run-out for an easy dunk that gave the Jayhawks an 88-76 lead with less than 2 minutes remaining.

 

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Chargers must feel they’re living charmed lives these days.

How else to explain that everything they needed to have happen – and more – fell into place to allow them to sneak into the playoffs for the first time in four years?

”It feels like this season is meant to be special,” Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle said after another epic, heart-stopping win against the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-24 in overtime on Sunday, gave the Chargers the AFC’s final postseason spot. ”Whether it happens or not, we’ll read that story at the end. But we’re in, and no one really thought that could happen.”

Nick Novak kicked a 36-yard field goal with 5:30 left in overtime to give San Diego its only lead of the day. The Chargers, who trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter, then held the Chiefs on downs to win it after they got into San Diego territory.

”We didn’t play our best game, but teams that are playoff teams find a way to win when you don’t play your best and that’s what we did today,” quarterback Philip Rivers said after the Chargers (9-7) won their fourth straight and for the fifth time in six games.

They’ll play a wild-card game next Sunday at AFC North champion Cincinnati, the last team to beat them, 17-10 at San Diego on Dec. 1.

The Chargers have needed help from other teams for weeks. Everything worked out for them on Sunday, but not before the Chargers and their fans had to squirm a bit.

Miami and Baltimore both lost, meaning San Diego could clinch the No. 6 seed with a win or tie.

Surprisingly, the Chargers trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter against a Chiefs team that already had clinched the AFC’s No. 5 seed and rested 20 of 22 starters, including Pro Bowl running back Jamaal Charles and quarterback Alex Smith.

The Chargers kept getting new chances. After San Diego tied it by scoring 10 points on consecutive possessions, Kansas City’s Ryan Succop was wide right on a potential game-winning, 41-yard field goal try with 4 seconds left in regulation.

”It was just kind of like we got a new life,” Rivers said. ”It was like, all right, we just got a second chance, because it was over. We were maybe going to get a snap offensively.”

The Chiefs called heads during the overtime coin toss, and it came up tails. The Chargers got the ball first and elected to receive. The drive was kept alive by a 2-yard gain by Weddle on a fake punt on fourth-and-2 from the Chargers 28.

”I just felt we could get 2 yards as a punt team with me running the ball and if we are going to go down let’s go down doing what we do best and that is being aggressive and fighting to the end,” Weddle said. ”And we just got enough and I’m glad we got it.”

By having to settle for the field goal, the Chargers gave Kansas City an opportunity.

Chase Daniel, starting for Smith, moved the Chiefs to a first-and-10 on the Chargers 36. But Knile Davis lost 5 yards, Daniel threw three straight incomplete passes and the game was over.

”What a wild ride, all 16 games and it comes down to the last game,” Weddle said. ”A lot of people had us out but we stuck together in the locker room. It’s the best team, morale, togetherness, that I have ever been a part of.

”It didn’t look great at times in that game and now we are in the tournament. We can’t wait to go to Cincinnati.”

The Chiefs (11-5) go into the playoffs having lost five of seven. They play Saturday at AFC South champion Indianapolis, which won 23-7 in Kansas City last week.

”I look at the positive of it,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of resting most of his starters. ”We got a lot of guys in to get practice with the game plan if we do meet up with San Diego again. And the guys came out and played. You get to see, from a depth perspective, that you’ve got some guys who can play and want to compete.”

Said Davis: ”We treated it just like any other game. It all comes down to us going out and doing our jobs. That was our mindset. We’re hungry now.”

San Diego also beat the Chiefs 41-38 at Kansas City on Nov. 24.

With the Chargers on the verge of an embarrassing collapse against a team with nothing to play for, Rivers threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Royal early in the fourth quarter and Novak kicked a 22-yard field goal to tie it with 3:21 left in regulation

The Chiefs led 21-14 at halftime, getting touchdown runs of 17 and 2 yards by Davis and a 2-yard pass from Daniel to Dexter McCluster following an interception by Rivers.

San Diego scored on Rivers’ passes of 22 yards to Ladarius Green and 4 yards to Antonio Gates.

— Associated Press —

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Jake Waters threw for 271 yards and connected with Tyler Lockett on three touchdowns, leading Kansas State to its first bowl victory in 11 years, 31-14 over Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl on Saturday night.

Kansas State (8-5) scored on its first three possessions, all touchdown passes from Waters to Lockett, and its defense dominated Michigan to end a five-game bowl losing streak.

Lockett set a school record with 10 catches for 116 yards and Waters completed 21 of 27 passes, sending the Wildcats to their first bowl victory since the 2002 Holiday Bowl.

Freshman Shane Morris was steady in place of injured starter Devin Gardner, leading Michigan (7-6) on two early scoring drives. The Wolverines settled for field goals on both and did little the rest of the way, finishing with 261 total yards.

Morris threw for 196 yards on 24-of-38 passing with an interception before leading Michigan on a late scoring drive with the game out of reach.

Michigan’s defense also had trouble stopping Kansas State most of the night, giving up 420 total yards

Kansas State finished the season strong after some early difficulties – starting with a home loss to FCS North Dakota State – winning five of its final six games while scoring at least 31 points in each.

Michigan limped to the finish after a 5-0 start, losing five of its final seven games and Gardner along the way. The senior injured his toe in the regular-season finale against Ohio State and didn’t recover in time for the bowl game, leaving the Wolverines in the hands of Morris.

The freshman hasn’t played much over the past year, limited to four games as a high school senior due to mononucleosis and to nine pass attempts as Gardner’s backup this season.

Morris didn’t seem to mind being thrust into the spotlight as the first Michigan quarterback to make his first career start in a bowl game. He was helped by a conservative game plan filled with short throws early and started unleashing his big left arm by Michigan’s second drive, completing 15 of 19 passes for 121 yards in the first half.

The problem for the Wolverines was they couldn’t finish off drives, settling for field goals of 22 and 26 yards by Matt Wile.

That was good for Wile, who made one field goal all season, but not for Michigan since its defense couldn’t seem to stop the Wildcats – particularly the Waters-to-Lockett combination.

Kansas State set the tone on its opening drive, grinding out 75 yards in 15 plays and 7:51 off the clock. Lockett capped it with a 6-yard touchdown catch after the Wildcats’ line gave Waters just enough time to get the throw off against Michigan’s blitz.

Lockett set up the next drive with a 40-yard kickoff return and capped with a 29-yard touchdown catch, set up by Waters’ pump fake that gave him separation behind Michigan’s defense.

Kansas State raced down the field again on its next drive, setting up Lockett’s third touchdown, an 8-yarder from Waters that put the Wildcats up 21-6 at halftime.

The Wildcats bogged down in the second half, but so did the Wolverines.

Michigan had 23 total yards in the third quarter and failed to capitalize on the game’s first turnover – a fumble by Daniel Sams – by going three-and-out.

Kansas State’s Ian Anderson hit a 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, John Hubert scored on a 1-yard run after Morris’ interception and the Wildcats celebrated Bill Snyder’s seventh bowl victory by chasing the 74-year-old coach down the sideline for a water-bucket dump.

— Associated Press —

 

 

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HONOLULU (AP) — Kansas City and San Francisco will have plenty of clout in Honolulu if they don’t make it to New Jersey for the Super Bowl.

The NFL revealed Friday that the Chiefs and 49ers each had eight players voted into the Pro Bowl

The Chiefs on NFL’s Pro Bowl Roster:

Branden Albert (Tackle) – 1st Nomination

Eric Berry (Safety) – 3rd Nomination

Jamaal Charles (Running Back) – 3rd Nomination

Brandon Flowers (Cornerback) – 1st Nomination

Tamba Hali (Linebacker) – 3rd Nomination

Justin Houston (Linebacker) – 2nd Nomination

Dexter McCluster (Punt Returner) – 1st Nomination

Dontari Poe (Defensive Tackle) – 1st Nomination

Denver quarterback Peyton Manning was selected to his 13th Pro Bowl after garnering the most votes among fans, 1.43 million. New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees was second among fans with 1.2 million votes. The NFL combines votes from fans, players and coaches to determine 86 of 88 Pro Bowl players. Voting ended Thursday.

NFL greats Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders will divvy up the players in a two-day draft before the Jan. 26 game.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Chiefs are paying Chase Daniel more than $4 million in salary and bonuses this season, yet the backup quarterback has not taking a meaningful snap in a game.

There’s an argument to be made that fact won’t change Sunday, when the Chiefs head to San Diego to play a game that can’t affect their playoff situation. Kansas City is already locked into the No. 5 seed and is merely waiting to find out who it will face the following weekend.

But there’s also an argument to be made that every snap Daniel takes – and it stands to reason there will be many – is very important.

After winning their first nine games, the Chiefs have lost four of their last six. And any positive vibes that came with back-to-back wins over Washington and Oakland may have evaporated in a 23-7 rout last weekend by the Colts, a potential first-round playoff opponent.

So while most of the starters will likely sit out the majority of this one, it could be up to Daniel and a slew of backups to give Kansas City some momentum headed into the postseason.