CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Seth Tuttle had 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting and added five rebounds to lead Northern Iowa to a 66-49 win over North Florida on Saturday. Paul Jesperson finished with 11 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and Wes Washpun added 10 points for Northern Iowa (4-0). Jalen Nesbitt had 15 points and four steals, going 6 of 8 at the free-throw line, and Demarcus Daniels added 10 points North Florida (1-3).

Wyatt Lohaus hit a 3-pointer early in the game to cap an 18-0 start by Northern Iowa, but North Florida responded with a 12-3 run. The Panthers took a 33-18 lead into halftime. In the second half, Jalen Nesbitt had four free throws as a part of a 7-2 Ospreys run, but Northern Iowa responded with a 16-4 run including seven points from Tuttle.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) – Connar Tava had 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds to lead Western Michigan to a 91-75 win over Drake on Saturday.  Tucker Haymond had 24 points and three assists, including a pair of 3s and David Brown added 14 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals for Western Michigan (3-0). Reed Timmer had 23 points and Chris Caird added 13 points for Drake (0-3).

Timmer scored 16 points in the first half to put Drake up 46-41 at halftime, but Western Michigan responded in the second half.  Haymond converted a layup while being fouled midway through the second half to cap a 19-2 run, which put the Western Michigan up 60-50. The Broncos made eight of their final 11 shots, including seven-straight points by Haymond to close it out.

Ryan Boyle ran for three touchdowns and passed for another and West Des Moines Dowling rolled past Cedar Rapids Washington 49-14 Friday night to win its second straight Class 4A state championship.

Boyle made big plays all night as Dowling (13-1) dominated on both sides of the ball in winning its fifth title overall, all since 2000.

The senior quarterback, who has committed to play at Iowa, ran 19 times for 145 yards and completed 8 of 12 passes for an additional 68 yards. That included a 6-yarder to Eric Fardal for a second quarter touchdown.

Washington (13-1) trailed just 14-7 after Johnny Dobbs’ 2-yard TD run near the end of the first quarter. But Dowling ran off the next 35 points to turn the game into a rout.

Iowa State looks for its first Big 12 win at home against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are 1-6 in league play and coach Cliff Kingsbury must decide on a starting quarterback between Davis Webb and Pat Mahomes. ISU coach Paul Rhoads who feels the Cyclones will play hard to finish out the season. Rhoads says the trenches will decide the outcome. Iowa State is 2-7 overall and 0-6 in the Big 12.

The Iowa Hawkeyes host Wisconsin in Kinnick Stadium and the Hawkeyes need a victory to keep their division title hopes alive. Not only do the Badgers have the Big Ten’s best running game they also have the top ranked defense and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says the Hawkeyes must avoid third and long. Running back Melvin Gordon gets most of the attention but Ferentz says Badger quarterback Stave (stah-vay) gets overlooked. Ferentz says the Iowa offense will need to execute and be patient. Iowa is 7-3.

Friday’s Scores

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Albia 48, Montezuma 46
Alburnett 57, Midland, Wyoming 45
Alta/Aurelia 44, Ruthven-Ayrshire 30
B-G-M, Brooklyn 52, Sigourney 48
Ballard 60, Gilbert 30
BCLUW, Conrad 48, GMG, Garwin 28
Cascade,Western Dubuque 52, Anamosa 36
Central Decatur, Leon 69, Lamoni 34
Central Elkader 56, East Buchanan, Winthrop 34
Colo-NESCO 48, West Marshall, State Center 38
Columbus Community, Columbus Junction 61, West Liberty 59, 2OT
Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 58, Heartland Christian 15
Decorah 75, Edgewood-Colesburg 26
East Sac County 65, Storm Lake 31
English Valleys, North English 52, Belle Plaine 44
Fort Dodge 79, Des Moines, Hoover 46
Grinnell 60, East Marshall, LeGrand 34
Indianola 66, Norwalk 36
Iowa Valley, Marengo 64, H-L-V, Victor 43
Kee, Lansing 61, Waukon 39
Keota 46, Tri-County, Thornburg 23
Knoxville 54, PCM, Monroe 47
Lynnville-Sully 50, North Mahaska, New Sharon 29
Martensdale-St. Marys 64, Colfax-Mingo 33
Mason City 57, Clear Lake 40
Pella Christian 38, Van Meter 37
Sumner-Fredericksburg 51, Oelwein 36
Newton Tournament
First Round
Bondurant Farrar 47, Newton 38
Carlisle 59, Des Moines Christian 54

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Melissa Dixon scored 20 points with six 3-pointers, and Ally Disterhoft added 14 points with 10 rebounds as No. 18 Iowa defeated Pepperdine 97-68 in the Hawkeye Challenge Friday night. Iowa (3-0) shot 53 percent — including nearly 58 percent from 3-point range — to steadily pull away from cold-shooting Pepperdine (39.4 percent). Disterhoft’s double-double was her fourth at Iowa.

The Waves (1-2) hung with the Hawkeyes for much of the first half — tied twice and holding a one-point lead — until Iowa ended the with a 10-3 run into halftime. Pepperdine, behind 16 points from Allie Green and 14 from Ea Shoushtari, couldn’t close the gap after halftime. Shoushtari, a senior, came into the game with 600 career points.

Dixon hit six of 11 3-pointers rising to fourth all-time in 3-pointers at Iowa (225). Iowa plays Dayton (2-2), Pepperdine meets Tennessee-Martin (1-4) in the tournament finale Saturday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Chiefs have signed veteran Jason Avant to help a beleaguered and injury-prone group of wide receivers. The move reunites Avant with Andy Reid, his longtime coach in Philadelphia. Kansas City cleared roster space by placing wide receiver A.J. Jenkins on injured reserve on Friday.

Avant was drafted by Reid’s Eagles and spent his first eight seasons there before signing with Carolina in the offseason. He was the Panthers’ third receiver and caught 21 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown before getting released this week.

Avant had criticized the Panthers for their offensive approach in last week’s loss to the Falcons, but coach Ron Rivera insisted that was not the reason for his release. Rivera said the Panthers were simply trying to get younger at wide receiver.

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris McCullough had 20 points, nine rebounds and a key steal with 8.4 seconds left, and No. 23 Syracuse held off Iowa 66-63 on Friday night in the 2K Classic consolation game. Rakeem Christmas bounced back from his foul-plagued performance Thursday with 18 points for the Orange (3-1), who led by 15 in the second half but needed some key plays from McCullough, a freshman from the Bronx who had 13 after halftime.

Jarrod Uthoff scored 20 points and Aaron White added 15 points and 12 rebounds for Iowa (2-2). Christmas, Syracuse’s leading scorer, was limited to eight points before fouling out in the Orange’s 73-59 loss to California on Thursday.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Josh Mackey scored on two short runs and North Fayette Valley controlled the ball with its ground game in beating Sioux Center 14-10 to win the Class 2A state championship. Mackey’s 2-yard plunge with 6:03 left Friday gave the Tigerhawks (13-1) their first lead, and he helped his team maintain it with a late play on defense.

Dropping back from his linebacker position, Mackey broke up a Sioux Center pass just outside the end zone. Teammate Phil Kleve then knocked down a final pass by the Warriors (12-2) at the goal line with just over a minute remaining.

Mackey was a workhorse all afternoon, carrying the ball 39 times for 140 yards in helping North Fayette Valley build a 12-minute edge in time of possession.