Thomas Godoj Thread » hen it all fell apart for the Packers.Andrew

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Naadir Tharpe scored 21 points for Kansas, and Frank Mason stripped Oklahoma States LeBryan Nash as the final buzzer sounded to preserve the 15th-ranked Jayhawks 80-78 victory over the ninth-ranked Cowboys on Saturday. Joel Embiid added 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks for the Jayhawks (13-4, 4-0 Big 12), who blew most of a 47-30 halftime lead before holding on at the finish. Phil Forte hit seven 3-pointers and had 21 points for Oklahoma State (15-3, 3-2). Marcus Smart added 16 points, but he was just 3 of 14 from the field and 0 for 6 from behind the 3-point arc. Still, Smart nearly gave the Cowboys a chance. His layup with 24 seconds remaining got them within 79-75, and after Mason missed a free throw, Forte hit a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game with 5.7 seconds remaining. Mason was fouled and made the first of two free throws, and the Cowboys raced up court with the rebound on the miss. Nash tried to get off a shot from just beyond the arc as time expired, but Mason was there to pop the ball loose and preserve the victory. Markel Brown finished with 15 points for Oklahoma State while Kamari Murphy had 12 and Nash finished with 10. The testy game included six flagrant or technical fouls. The animosity between the teams really started to simmer last season, when the Cowboys came into Allen Fieldhouse and ended the Jayhawks 33-game home win streak. Smart celebrated by doing a backflip, a stunt captured on film that Kansas coach Bill Self showed his team this week. It reached a rolling boil shortly before the season, when Smart declared that Kansas Andrew Wiggins had yet to warrant the considerable hype that the star freshman had been receiving. Naturally, most figured that Smart and Wiggins would be the leading characters when their teams met. Instead, two uber-talented players expected to be chosen early in Junes NBA draft were relegated to supporting roles as their teammates stepped into the spotlight. Kansas delivered the games first big blow midway through the first half, ripping off a 13-0 run fueled by Tariq Blacks monstrous dunk. By the time Browns turnover led to a run-out basket by Black and a 29-15 lead with just under 8 minutes left in the half, a sellout crowd that included Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was roaring its approval. In fact, the noise was so deafening that Brown didnt hear Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford call a timeout. He instead raced up court and found himself in the midst of the Kansas huddle, and wound up triggering a benches-clearing fracas that the officials had to separate. Brown and the Jayhawks Jamari Traylor were each hit with technical fouls. Things didnt cool off, either. Later in the half, Smart was hammered by Wayne Selden on his way to the rim. Selden was promptly shoved by the Cowboys Stevie Clark, drawing another technical. Kansas led 47-30 at halftime. The Cowboys tried to mount a comeback on the second half. Forte got hot from behind the arc, and Brown hit four 3-pointers in the span of a few minutes, the last of them closing Oklahoma State within 59-56 with 11:02 remaining. Kansas stoically answered the challenge. Masons 3-pointer triggered seven straight points by the Jayhawks, and when Smart finally hit his first field goal with 5:53 left in the game, Embiid answered with a thunderous jam off an alley-oop pass that left the entire goal setup trembling. As the Jayhawks slowly rebuilt their lead, Oklahoma State began to lose its poise. Brown was whistled for a foul on Embiid, and voiced his frustration within earshot of official John Higgins, earning his second technical of the game. It also resulted in him fouling out. The Cowboys got within 77-73 on a basket by Smart with 1:29 left, but Tharpe answered again with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The Jayhawks then held on in the closing seconds to put some distance on Oklahoma State in the Big 12 race. Randy Johnson Jersey .Y. -- First, Patrick Kane gave his family and friends something to cheer about by scoring a highlight-reel goal in a rare trip home to Buffalo on Sunday night. Jean Segura Jersey . Louis still looking for a way out of Tampa Bay, the 38-year-old NHL veteran isnt showing his cards. http://www.marinersrookiestore.com/Marin...an-Kids-Jersey/. And though his comeback night didnt quite go to script, Bryant couldnt help reflecting on the work necessary to get back on that court -- and all the months of steady labour ahead to reclaim his game. Bryant had nine points and eight rebounds in his season debut, but Amir Johnson scored a career-high 32 points in the trade-depleted Toronto Raptors 106-94 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday night. James Paxton Jersey . He scored two highlight-reel goals in a three-minute span -- the second on a sideways bicycle kick in the 78th minute -- to give the Whitecaps a 2-2 draw with the Portland Timbers before a crowd of 20,303 at B. Custom Seattle Mariners Jerseys . A police inspector told The Associated Press the crane operator is not yet suspected of any wrongdoing but is considered a key witness to the accident at the Arena Corinthians.SEATTLE - Aaron Rodgers was sore the whole game, even if he didnt always show it.Battling his left calf sprain, Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers built a 19-7 lead in the NFC championship game before stumbling in the fourth quarter for a 28-22 overtime loss to the defending champion Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.The Seahawks return to the Super Bowl. The Packers go home.We had some chances early, we had some chances late to do some things, and didnt do it, Rodgers said. When I go back and think about it, I think at times we just werent playing as aggressive as we usually are.Russell Wilsons 35-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse in the extra period won it.The Packers defence intercepted the Seahawks Russell Wilson four times and forced five Seattle turnovers. Wilson was sacked five times.But it all fell apart for Green Bay at the end. The Packers couldnt muster a fourth-quarter first down and failed to corral an onside kick as Seattle seized the momentum. Afterward, Rodgers admitted the calf bothered him the whole game.Losses are bad either way, Rodgers said. But the way we lost, up two scores, late in the game, with the ball, you expect to put that game away.Rodgers sore calf was a focus going into the game.Injured against Tampa Bay in Week 16, Rodgers was limited in practice before Green Bays 26-21 victory over the Dallas Cowboys last weekend. Throwing mostly out of shotgun formation, he finished with 313 yards passing and three touchdowns.He was limited in practice again this week as the team prepared for the Seahawks.But he had a track record of overcoming obstacles in the playoffs. The Packers were 10-6 in the regular season in 2010 before beating Philadelphia in a wild-card game, top-seeded Atlanta in divisional playoff game and then Chicago for the NFC championship. Rodgers was the MVP after leading Green Bay to a 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.With his calf clearly taped underneath his sock on Sunday, Rodgers finished with 178 yards passing with a touchdown and was intercepted twice..dddddddddddd.Rodgers looked to be handling the pain well at the start. Although he was intercepted on Green Bays first drive, the Packers returned the favour on Seattles subsequent drive, when Ha Ha Clinton-Dix intercepted Wilson.The Seahawks defence held Green Bay out of the end zone, and Mason Crosby capped the drive with an 18-yard field goal.Seattles next drive ended when receiver Doug Baldwin fumbled and Packers safety Morgan Burnett recovered at the Seahawks 23. But the Packers settled again for a 19-yard field goal from Crosby.Rodgers hit Randall Cobb with a 13-yard scoring pass, his lone TD pass of the game. Crosbys 40-yard field goal made it 16-0 and Sam Shields intercepted Wilsons attempt to Kearse in the end zone with 1:55 to go in the half.The Seahawks narrowed it to 16-7 on a fake field goal and touchdown pass by holder Jon Ryan with 4:44 left in the third quarter. But Green Bay added Crosbys 48-yard field goal with 10:53 left in the game to extend the lead to 19-7.Thats when it all fell apart for the Packers.Andrew Quarless missed a third-and-4 pass from Rodgers at the Green Bay 19. The Packers intercepted Wilson on his first throw from scrimmage, but Green Bay again went three and out.Wilson scored on a 1-yard keeper with 2:09 left, and then the Seahawks recovered the onside kick when the ball landed in Chris Matthews hands after it was bobbled by Green Bays Brandon Bostick.That led to Marshawn Lynchs 24-yard touchdown run and a 2-point conversion put Seattle in front 22-19.Rodgers was steady, leading a drive to the Seattle 36, but his third-down pass to Jordy Nelson fell short and Green Bay settled for Crosbys 48-yard field goal to tie it and send the game to overtime.Seattle won the toss, and the crowd at CenturyLink Field roared.You cant let them complete a pass for a touchdown on a fake field goal, you cant give up an onside kick, and you cant not get any first downs in the fourth quarter and expect to win, Rodgers said.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '