The Kansas City Chiefs shook off a sluggish start and came up with some big fourth quarter plays to beat the Denver Broncos 27-24 on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Chiefs headed into the final period trailing 17-13 but quickly came up with a big offensive play followed by a defensive takeaway to leap out front. Ten second into the fourth Blake Bell hauled in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to puck KC up 20-17. L’Jarius Sneed then came up with a big interception off Russell Wilson to swing the momentum toward the Chiefs. A few plays later Jerick McKinnon hauled in his second short touchdown catch of the game to make it 27-17 Chiefs with 12:36 to play. The Broncos fought til the end with a touchdown run by Wilson with 6:14 to play. The Chiefs were able to burn some clock on offense and then Chris Jones came up with a huge fourth down sack on the Broncos final possession to seal it.

The Chiefs picked up their 15th straight win over the Broncos and keep their hopes of earning the top-seed in the AFC alive. The Bengals face the Bills in a big game on Monday night that could swing that top seed.

Mahomes finished 29-42 for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns with one interception in the end zone. Kadarius Toney hauled in four catches for 71 yards but also fumbled on a punt return. The Chiefs improved to 13-3 on the season.

Next up for Kansas City is the regular season finale at the Las Vegas Raiders next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. We’ll have it on KJAN with pregame at 2:30 p.m.

No. 15 Iowa State (9-2, 1-0 Big 12) topped Texas Tech (12-2, 0-1 Big 12) ending TTU’s 11-game win streak by a score of 81-58. Iowa State posted its sixth-straight victory in Lubbock.

Ashley Joens (22) and Lexi Donarski (21) topped the 20-point mark while Emily Ryan (15) and Stephanie Soares (14) totaled four Cyclones in double-figure scoring.  ISU shot at 44.8 percent as the Cyclones cemented the 23-point victory.

Ryan and Soares both had double-doubles, with Ryan grabbing a career-best 10 and Soares getting 16, her best as a Cyclone. Soares has seven double-doubles in her first 11 games at Iowa State. The duo also combined for seven blocks, Soares getting four and Ryan three.

(cyclones.com)

Gabe Kalscheur hit five 3-pointers and scored 23 points to lead Iowa State (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) to a 77-62 win over No. 12 Baylor (10-3, 0-1) in the Big 12-opener Saturday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones were down nine points in the first half, but a late first-half flurry and a strong start to the second half gave the Cyclones control for the rest of the contest to end a six-game losing skid to the Bears. It was head coach T.J. Otzelberger’s seventh victory over a ranked opponent in his two-year tenure with the Cyclones.

Kalscheur had the hot hand, hitting 7-of-13 shots from the field and 5-of-9 attempts from beyond the arc. His triple with 5:22 left in the game gave the Cyclones a 69-54 lead and put the game out of reach.

Kalscheur had help from Caleb Grill, who scored 18 points behind 5-of-9 shooting from downtown. Grill also posted a team-high seven boards. Jaren Holmes added 10 points, all in the second half.

The Cyclones had 19 points off 19 Bear turnovers. Adam Flagler led the Bears with 20 points, tallying 18 in the opening period.

(cyclones.com)

Top 25:

• #22 Xavier 83, #2 Connecticut 73
• #3 Houston 71, UCF 65
• #4 Kansas69, Oklahoma State 67
• #5 Arizona 69, Arizona State 60
• #6 Texas 70, Oklahoma 69
• #19 Gonzaga 111, Pepperdine 88
• Iowa State 77, #12 Baylor 62
• #13 Virginia 74, Georgia Tech 56
• #17 Duke 86, Florida State 67
• #18 TCU 67, Texas Tech 61
• #19 Kentucky 86, Louisville 63
• #22 New Mexico 76, Wyoming 75
• Kansas State 82, #24 West Virginia 76 (OT)

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz told reporters after the game that Jack Campbell’s grandfather died Friday night as the result of a traffic accident.  William Smith, 76, was walking with family members when he may not have heard a warning not to cross a street.  He was hit by a van and declared dead at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Iowa officials said Campbell’s parents told him about his grandfather’s death after the game, “so that Jack would have one last time to play with his Iowa Hawkeye teammates.”

Campbell, the unanimous First Team All-American and Butkus Award winner, led Iowa with 10 tackles and had a sack and two tackles for loss.

Bowen Born’s 25 points helped Northern Iowa defeat Illinois State 66-60 on Saturday.

Born was 7 of 13 shooting, including 5 for 7 from distance, and went 6 for 8 from the line for the Panthers (6-8, 2-2 Missouri Valley). Tytan Anderson added 16 points while going 6 of 8 and 4 of 7 from the free throw line, and he also had nine rebounds and six steals. Cole Henry recorded eight points and shot 4 of 8 from the field.

Born put up 14 points in the first half for Northern Iowa, who led 31-25 at halftime. Born led Northern Iowa with 11 points in the second half.