ST. LOUIS -- All those runaway wins, its hard for unbeaten Wichita State to pick a favourite. Blowouts have become the norm for the Shockers. It keeps them loose during games and after. "I cant remember which one was our best game, but if you think so, then OK," point guard Fred VanVleet said after the second-ranked Shockers encountered little resistance in a 67-42 rout of Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament semifinals on Saturday. Coach Gregg Marshall said hes got a "fun team to watch, a fun team to coach, a fun team to be around." He scoffed at naysayers who might criticize strength of schedule. "Who can find fault with 33-0? No, I take that back, I know people find fault with 33-0. I dont. I enjoy it," Marshall said. "Ive enjoyed it the whole year." Marshall wrapped up his postgame news conference by complaining about an exposed nail on the table at the podium that caused him to rip his jacket on Friday, and to point out that Tekele Cottons first name is often mispronounced. "Hes going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the second time in three weeks," Marshall said. "Its not Tekeel, its Tekale -- like the vegetable." Cleanthony Early scored 20 points with three 3-pointers and a pair of dunks and Wichita State began celebrating early in the second half. The 22-point romp over Evansville in the quarterfinals had a similar feel. "Our motto is to play angry," centre Kadeem Coleby said. "But at the same time were out there on the court smiling, and were having fun with each other." And making life miserable for the opposition. "They handled us," Missouri State coach Paul Lusk said. "Obviously, we had some guys go down but give them credit. It wasnt a whole lot of fun to sit through." Jarmar Gulley, who leads the team with a 14.7-point average, had five points in 14 minutes before leaving with a jaw injury. Keith Pickens was scoreless and played three minutes because of a groin injury. "Theyre two of our best guys," forward Christian Kirk said. "Thats pretty tough." Cotton also made three 3-pointers for the top-seeded Shockers, who matched the start by Larry Bird and Indiana State in 1979 before they lost to Michigan State and Magic Johnson in the NCAA title game. Wichita State will be heavily favoured against Indiana State or Southern Illinois to make it 34 in a row, which would match the NCAA-record start by UNLV in 1990-91. Players appear utterly unconcerned. "I dont know about exactly celebrating what weve accomplished, so to speak, as opposed to thinking about how great we are," said VanVleet, the Valley player of the year. "We dont really blow our heads up like that. We have fun throughout the process. "If you watched the game, you saw that." The Shockers, who last won the conference tourney in 1987, took control with a 17-0 run in the first half and topped it with 24 straight points in the second, scoring at will while Missouri State endured droughts totalling more than 15 minutes. "I want to win very badly, but I would want to beat you at cards if we dealt them tonight," Marshall told a questioner. "Thats just the way Im wired." Missouri State (21-11) gave Wichita State its closest call in the regular season, losing by three in overtime at home in January after squandering a 19-point lead. The Bears got away with 33 per cent shooting in the quarterfinals against Illinois State but were blown out shooting 31 per cent against the Shockers. Cotton added 13 points, and VanVleet had nine points and five assists. Gavin Thurman led Missouri State with nine points. Austin Ruder was held to four points on 2-for-7 shooting after going 6 for 12 from 3-point range and scoring 21 points in the quarterfinals. Wichita State went to the Final Four as a No. 9 seed last season and is closing in on a No. 1 seed this March. Early had his two dunks, celebrating a bit on the way back down court each time, and was among seven players scoring during the 24-0 run that made it 61-23 with 8:58 to go. The Shockers were 8 for 10 from 3-point range in the first half, with five of them coming in the 17-0 run. Marshall said it was actually 8 for 8 because the two misses were with the shot clock about to expire. "To us, its just a rush of excitement," guard Ron Baker said. Missouri State went more than 6 1/2 minutes without a point before Thurman scored in the lane with 2:13 to go in the half. The Bears trailed 33-19 at the half, their lowest first-half scoring output this season. . The Iowa State senior forward has a unique top-10 standing in the Big 12. The 6-foot-6 Ejim was named Monday as The Associated Press Big 12 Player of the Year. [url=http://www.chargerssportsauthentic.com/chargers-stevie-johnson-electric-blu... Johnson Womens Jersey . First you have to recognize it before you can capitalize on it. . Porter joined the Steelers staff after receiving his first coaching experience at his alma mater last season as a student assistant on Colorado State coach Jim McElwains staff while taking classes to complete his degree. [url=http://www.chargerssportsauthentic.com/chargers-craig-mager-electric-blue-j... Mager Jersey . Andre Miller, the oldest player on the team, showed his teammates how its done. Miller scored nine of his season-high 15 points in the fourth period and the Nuggets defeated the winless Utah Jazz 100-81 on Monday night.TAMPA, Fla. -- Brian Roberts remembered back a decade ago, when he was standing on second base and Derek Jeter approached. "He just said, "You can hit .300 in this league," Roberts recalled Monday. "To hear it from somebody like that, it kind of opened your eyes." Not that he took Jeters analysis too literally. "I dont think its just me. I think he does it to everybody," Roberts said. "But for some reason when he tells it to you, you think youre the most important person in the world." Now theyre teammates, and Roberts has a locker next to Jeters in the New York Yankees spring training clubhouse. With a void at second base following the departure of Robinson Cano, the Yankees have given the position to Roberts, a two-time All-Star who made five trips to the disabled list totalling 481 days over the past four seasons. His many maladies included a strained abdominal muscle, pneumonia, two concussions (one self-inflicted), a groin strain, hip tear and hamstring strain. "I know he hasnt played a full season in the last few years and hes obviously a guy that has some age on him, too, but my plan is to run him out there almost every day," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. Now 36, Roberts had hoped to be a Baltimore Orioles lifer, just like Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken Jr. "Ive come to love the city, the fans," he said in February 2009 when the Orioles gave him a contract guaranteeing $48 million over five years. "This was the only place I wanted to be the rest of my career." It didnt work out that way. After hitting .283 in 2009 with 16 homers, 79 RBIs and a big league-high 56 doubles, he missed most of the following spring training with a herniated disk in his back. His first concussion was sustained on Sept. 27, 2010, when he knocked himself on the batting helmet with his bat after striking out in the ninth inning at Tampa Bay. His total of 77 games last season was his highest since the injuries began, and the switch-hitter batted .249 with eight homers and 39 RBIs. Baltimore made no effort to keep him after he hit .246 with 15 homers and 78 RBIs over the past four years. The offensive performance would have been decent but not spectacular had he compiled it over a single seeason.dddddddddddd "I dont know that you can necessarily put great words on how frustrating it is to have to sit on the sidelines and watch," Roberts said. "Ive had numerous times over the last three or four years where I wondered if, for one, Id be able to play again, and I think certainly going into last season I had no idea what the next year would hold, whether I would have a job in 2014, whether I wouldnt, whether Id want a job." New York signed him for the bargain price of $2 million, plus the chance to make $2.6 million in bonuses based on plate appearances. Hell be counted on for offence, given that the Yankees had 114 RBIs from second base last year, tops in the majors, according to STATS. "Theres going to be people that will want to look out there and say, Well, hes not Robby. And Im not going to be Robby. Im not going to try to be," Roberts said. "Im going to be Brian Roberts and, hopefully, thats good enough most days." New Yorks infield is more Take A Chance than Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance. First baseman Mark Teixeira played just 15 games last year because of a hand injury, and Jeters broken ankle limited him to 17. With Alex Rodriguez serving a season-long drug suspension, Kelly Johnson figures to platoon at third with Brendan Ryan, Eduardo Nunez and possibly Scott Sizemore. "Its not the infield that we had in 2009," Girardi said. "But we believe that theres a lot of capable players in here to put up offensive and defensive numbers, and when you look at those numbers as a whole, theyre going to be pretty good." Roberts remains in touch with his former Orioles teammates. "A lot of my closest friends in the world are there. So sure. Ive talked to them all in the last couple days. Is it weird? Is it different? Do I miss them? Yeah," he said before recounting his friendships with Jacoby Ellsbury, Jeter and Brian McCann. After Roberts spent 13 seasons in Baltimores black and orange, the Yankees pinstripes will take getting used to. Like McCann, he heard many people tell him "anybody but the Yankees" when he was a free agent. "You either love them or you hate them, right? And thats OK," he said. "Now I love them." wholesale jerseys cheap nfl jerseys china Cheap NFL Jerseys cheap authentic jerseys cheap nfl jerseys china ' ' '

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