IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Luka Garza missed his first five shots in the first six minutes. But the Iowa junior center knew it was still early, and he could find spots in and around North Florida’s zone defense. Garza then scored 29 points as Iowa beat North Florida 83-68 in a Las Vegas Invitational preliminary game on Thursday night. Two of Garza’s first shots were blocked by North Florida forward Wajid Aminu, who is four inches shorter than the 6-foot-11 Garza.

The Hawkeyes (3-1) led just 39-35 at halftime, then opened the second half with a 17-4 run. Garza finished 12 of 18 from the field, including 2 of 2 in 3-pointers. He also had 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and the eighth of his career. Garza came into the game averaging 21.3 points and 10 rebounds, with 59 points and 22 rebounds in the last two games.

The Ospreys, who made 21 3-pointers in a 115-39 win over Trinity Baptist on Monday, made just 12 in this game. The final 24 minutes of the game were played with two officials. Lamont Simpson injured his left leg and left the arena on crutches. Officials Rob Riley and Kelly Pfeifer finished the game.
UP NEXT
Iowa hosts Cal Poly in a Las Vegas Invitational preliminary game on Sunday.
North Florida plays at Creighton in a Las Vegas Invitational preliminary game on Sunday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Roman Penn had 18 points and nine assists as Drake defeated Lehigh 74-58 on Thursday night. Liam Robbins had 13 points and four blocks for Drake (4-1), which earned its fourth consecutive home victory. D.J. Wilkins added 13 points and Noah Thomas had 11.

Anthony Murphy, who was second on the Bulldogs in scoring coming into the contest with 12 points per game, was held to four points, and missed all four of his 3-point shots. James Karnik had 14 points for the Mountain Hawks (3-3).

Drake takes on Miami (Ohio) on Monday. Lehigh takes on Saint Mary’s on the road on Saturday.

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

UNDATED (AP) — Chris Klieman gets an extra game in his first season at Kansas State. There are two more first-year Big 12 coaches that can also still get into bowls. But Texas Tech and West Virginia will both have to win their last two games to get the six wins needed for bowl eligibility. It has been 10 years since the Big 12 didn’t send a bowl-eligible team to a postseason game.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been dealing with a sore ankle and knee injury for most of this season. It hasn’t affected his production too much, and the Chiefs are 7-4 and in control of the AFC West heading into their bye week. It’s a much-needed break for Mahomes, who is hoping to get healthy for the stretch run.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — John Sherman has been approved as the new controlling owner of the Kansas City Royals, and his group plans to close its deal to purchase the team from David Glass and his family next week. Major League Baseball owners voted unanimously to approve the deal. The proposed sale was announced Aug. 30 and was expected to be worth about $1 billion. Sherman and his local co-investors will become only the third owners since Ewing Kauffman founded the club ahead of the 1969 season.

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — KJ Robinson scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, JT Gibson finished with 18 points, and Omaha beat Washington State 85-77. Robinson was 6-of-12 shooting, including two 3-pointers, and made 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Dejan Vasiljevic had a career-high 25 points and Miami continued a perfect run at the Charleston Classic with a 74-70 victory over Missouri State. The Hurricanes are the event’s only two-time champions and improved to 8-0 here. Not that it was easy. Missouri State cut an 18-point second-half deficit to 72-70 with 1.8 seconds left. But Vasiljevic hit a pair of foul shots to secure the win.

UNDATED (AP) — Scott Frost received a two-year contract extension that will keep him at Nebraska through 2026. Frost is now 8-14 in Lincoln. For comparison’s sake, Willie Taggart, who was named Florida State’s coach three days after Frost was hired at Nebraska, went 9-12 in Tallahassee before getting fired. Despite the slow start, Frost has the support of his administration and players. That support is a trend in the Big Ten West, as all of the division’s coaches are under lengthy contracts.

Thursday, November 21

Eight-Player

Don Bosco, Gilbertville 35, Audubon 19

Class A

West Hancock, Britt 21, Grundy Center 17

Class 3A

Epworth, Western Dubuque 37, Solon 17

The Audubon Wheelers lost a hard fought game in the 8-Player Football Championship on Thursday to Don Bosco 35-19. The Wheelers end an incredible season at 12-2 and their first State Championship appearance since 1977.

The game started off strong for both teams with opening possession scores. Kaiden Smith hooked up with Ethan Klocke on a 7-yard scoring strike to open the game up. Don Bosco would answer with a Thomas Even 6 yard TD run.

After three straight possession that ended with turnover on downs, the Dons grabbed the lead with a 7-play 43 yard drive that ended with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Cael Frost to Thomas Havel. After forcing a punt and getting a short field Don Bosco scored again with another Even run to take a 20-6 lead.

Audubon would get within a score before the half. Tanner Petersen blocked a punt to set the Wheelers up at the Dons 14-yard line. Two plays later Skyler Schultes hit Joel Klocke for a score to make it 20-13 at half.

Don Bosco opened up the second half with a 7-play, 54 yard drive to push ahead 27-13. After a couple of punts the Wheelers climbed back within a score on a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Kaiden Smith, making the score 27-19.

Audubon forced a punt by the Dons and then built some momentum with a big play on the next drive. The Wheelers went for it on 4th and 2 on their own 15-yard line. Kaiden Smith hit Ethan Klocke on a pass to midfield to convert. Unfortunately the drive halted on the next play with the first of back to back interceptions by Dillon Welter for the Dons.

In between those two picks the Dons pushed the game back to two possessions with a big 9-play, 64 yard drive capped off by Thomas Even’s 4th touchdown run of the game. Even grabbed an interception of his own later in the 4th to help seal the win.

Don Bosco outgained Audubon 284-195 in the contest. Thomas Even ran for 62 yards and 4 scores, putting him at 2,002 yards on the year. Cael Frost threw for 124 yards and 1 score and and for 97 yards. Audubon was led by Skyler Schultes with 105 yards and 1 score passing to go with 31 yards on the ground. Ethan Klocke finished with 6 catches for 53 yards and 1 score.

After the game Audubon Head Coach Sean Birks talked about the standard this Wheeler team set for the program.

Coach Birks is proud of the team-first mentality this team showed all year long.

Tanner Petersen also gushed with pride when talking about the bond the team shared this year.

Skyler Schultes was grateful for the journey this season.

A huge turnout of Wheeler red was in the stands on Thursday morning at the UNI-Dome to support their team, and they can all be very proud of a Wheeler squad to remember.