CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — Anthony Beane made six 3-pointers and matched a career-best with 32 points, and Southern Illinois held off Northern Iowa’s late rally for a 75-73 victory on Saturday night. Beane made a 3-pointer and Southern Illinois led 70-59 with 1:35 remaining. Klint Carlson, Matt Bohannon and Paul Jesperson each made 3-pointers as part of a 13-3 run that pulled Northern Iowa to 73-72 with 12 seconds to play.

Beane dunked with three seconds left, sealing the fifth-straight win for Southern Illinois (13-2, 2-0 Missouri Valley). The Salukis led 39-30 before Northern Iowa used a 16-11 spurt to pull to 50-46 with 12 minutes to go. Beane answered with two 3s and Sean O’Brien added four points to stretch Southern Illinois’ lead to 60-48.

The Panthers cut the deficit to six points with 4:28 remaining. Carlson sparked the rally at the 1:10-mark. Wes Washpun led Northern Iowa (9-6, 1-1) with 19 points.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Atlantic 64, St. Albert, Council Bluffs 46
Treynor 55, Red Oak 39
Tri-Center, Neola 58, Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 38

Timberwolves Shootout

Champlin Park, Minn. 76, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 45
Maple Grove, Minn. 70, Iowa City, West 57

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Panorama, Panora 57, Shenandoah 41
St. Albert, Council Bluffs 84, Atlantic 43
Treynor 72, Red Oak 27
Tri-Center, Neola 47, Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 42

Lopsided games and having the College Football Playoff semifinals on New Year’s Eve led to a 13 percent drop in TV ratings for the New Year’s Six Bowls from last year. The Rose Bowl on Friday drew its lowest rating (7.9) since it became part of the BCS in 1999. The overnight ratings for the big New Year’s Day bowls were announced Saturday by ESPN, which broadcasts all the games.

w/ Chris Parks

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Two men from eastern Iowa plan to complete a remarkable feat in the New Year. Dennis Lee of Walford and Daren Schumaker of Cedar Rapids are running marathons in all 99 Iowa counties. They spoke with KCRG-TV during their recent 26.2 mile long run through Cerro Gordo County. “The best run…my favorite was Chickasaw County, maybe partly because I’m from there,” Lee said. Schumaker added, “The worst run was in Taylor County. It was raining that day and it was probably 38 degrees.”

Their journey began in 2009. They have about a dozen more counties left and Lee said they’ve scheduled Delaware County for their final marathon in mid-September. “It’s almost a bitter-sweet thing because we’ve done so many and had a lot of fun, but we’re looking forward to the end,” Lee told KCRG. The two men conceived the idea many years ago as a way to raise money for the American Heart Association.

(KCRG/Radio Iowa)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs pass rusher Justin Houston returned to practice for the first time in more than a month on Friday and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders. Fellow linebacker Tamba Hali is also questionable after missing a game with a broken thumb.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa’s head football coach remains atop the list of the state’s highest-paid employees. Database information provided by the state shows Kirk Ferentz made almost $4 million in the fiscal year ending June 30. The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa State head basketball coach Fred Hoiberg made $2.1 million over the same period. He’s since departed for professional basketball’s Chicago Bulls.

In third place on the list is Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads at $1.85 million. He was fired in November. The highest-paid person on the list who isn’t a coach is Kenneth Kates, chief executive officer of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He was paid more than $1.6 million in fiscal 2015.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Chris Parks.

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The New Year begins with the Iowa Hawkeye’s first appearance in the Rose Bowl in 25 years. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and the rest of the team have been in California since Christmas Eve preparing for this game. He was asked this week about the long drought since the Hawkeyes have played in this game. He says it is a bit of a factor, but says the team has played in a lot of big games, especially this season.

Thousands of Hawkeye fans started pouring in around midweek, and there’s expected to be a healthy amount of black and gold in the stadium. Ferentz says the atmosphere could be similar to what they saw in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game. “We anticipate a really enthusiastic following here, our fans have been tremendous historically,” Ferentz says.

Stanford was in back-to-back Rose Bowls in 2013 and 2014, but Coach David Shaw says that doesn’t diminish the excitement of playing in this one. He got a laugh after saying he expects there will be a few Stanford fans at the game. Shaw says being in the game more recently than Iowa won’t be any big advantage today, as it will be the same atmosphere. “There’s an energy in the air, there’s an excitement in the air. There’s clear lines of delineation based on the apparel of which side is for which team, and both sides are energetic and passionate,” Shaw says. “I’ve run out on the field in a couple of big games before — there’s still nothing like running out on the field in the Rose Bowl.”

He says it will be the same for the players, they will feel the emotion of the stadium and the moment. “There’s nothing that’s old hat — so whether you’ve been here once or you’ve been here three times — you feel how special it is on that game day,” Shaw says. Former Iowa quarterback and now Big Ten Network analyst, Chuck Long knows what it will be like when Iowa’s C.J. Beathard goes under center to take a snap for the first time in the Rose Bowl.

“It’s an adrenalin rush, he’s going to feel that adrenaline rush, he’ll feel it in pre-game warmup, that’s when you start to feel it with the crowd coming in, and just the scene from the Rose Bowl floor is not like any other nationally,” Long says. “He’s a first year starting quarterback going to a big bowl game, not like my case where I started off with the Peach Bowl…and then the Gator Bowl and the Rose Bowl.” But Long expects Beathard to handle that initial adrenaline rush and play well.

“Just being around him, he’s going to handle it well. He’s got great demeanor, he’s been around football all his life,” according to Long. Former Hawkeye and now radio analyst Ed Podolack, is expecting a rugged game. He says it will be similar to the game with Michigan State where both teams will try to make the other give up. “There’s not going to be too much in the way of fancy football, it’s going to be who wants it, who has trained the best. So, I think it ends up being an exciting type of football for me to watch, because it is blocking and tackling,” Podolack says. He say his one big concern is the return game of Stanford.

“At times I think we have been inefficient at punting the ball this year. I don’t think that you can punt the ball to their team and not expect to get hurt,” Poldolack says, He says the coaches have probably addressed that and will likely punt the ball toward the sidelines. Fifth ranked Stanford will be looking for their 12 win against two loses. While the sixth-ranked Hawkeyes are looking for their 13th win against one loss. Kickoff is at 4:10 p-m Iowa time. Pregame coverage on KJAN begins at 2-p.m.

(Radio Iowa)