KANSAS CITY, Mo. Chicago Blackhawks Pro Shop . -- Georges Niang walked off the floor in the closing minutes with a bloody towel pressed tightly to his forehead, pumping his fist and riling up the Iowa State fans in the Sprint Center. Turns out he was just jumpstarting the celebration. Niang scored 25 points before leaving with that gash above his right eye, and the No. 16 Cyclones held on down the stretch to beat No. 10 Kansas 94-83 Friday night and reach their first Big 12 tournament title game since 2000. "We love competing for championships," Niang said later, a bandage over his wound. "Coach says take it one day at a time, but the Big 12 championship is one day away from us." DeAndre Kane had five 3-pointers and scored 20 points, and Big 12 player of the year Melvin Ejim added 19 points for the fourth-seeded Cyclones (25-8), who will play for just their second tournament title Saturday night against the winner of Texas-Baylor. The victory for Iowa State represented its first in four tries against Kansas in the Big 12 tournament, and its first over the Jayhawks in Kansas City since March 10, 1996, when the schools were still part of the Big Eight. It also allowed Iowa State to match its 2001 team for the second-most wins in school history, trailing only the 32 wins piled up by the 2000 team. Incidentally, it was that team that won the Cyclones only Big 12 tournament title. "Its a great win for us, for the fact it gives us confidence we can compete with anyone in the nation," Cyclones coach Fred Hoiberg said. "It was good to finally get one of these after struggling to close out games against Kansas the past few years." Relying on some hot outside shooting, Iowa State took charge in the second half, and then held on as the top-seeded Jayhawks (24-9) tried to make a late run to get back into the game. Perry Ellis led Kansas with 30 points. Andrew Wiggins finished with 22. The Jayhawks again were playing without 7-footer Joel Embiid, the leagues defensive player of the year, and his rim-protecting presence was sorely missed. The freshman has a stress fracture in his back and is likely out until at least the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. "Joel not being in there, he could probably guard Niang better," Kansas coach Bill Self said, "but I think it was more a collection of everybody rather than just one individual." The Sprint Center was packed to the rafters with fans eager to see whether Iowa State could finally end its five-game losing streak against the Jayhawks, or whether Kansas could burnish what it hoped would be a resume worthy of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The teams got after it right from the tip, racing up and down the floor in what amounted to a series of 94-foot wind sprints. Iowa State got the better of it early, forging a 23-16 lead, but the Jayhawks countered with a brutally efficient 20-3 charge to take control. Things got so intense that the normally placid Hoiberg was rung up with a technical foul after Kane appeared to be hammered on the way to the basket and no foul was called. "I used a bad word," Hoiberg said sheepishly. "Im not going to say I didnt." The Jayhawks lead was also short-lived. Kane started the comeback by converting a three-point play, Ejim and Niang went to work inside, and the Cyclones tied it 46-all in the closing minutes of the first half when Kane knocked down another shot from the corner. Their hot perimeter shooting continued in the second half, when the Cyclones turned a 48-46 deficit into a 66-57 lead, the last points in the run on a deep ball from Naz Long. By that point, Iowa State was 11 of 16 from the 3-point line. "We were on our heels defensively throughout the game," Ellis said. "I felt in the first half we did a lot better. In the second half, we let too many straight-line drives to the basket." The Jayhawks eventually extended their defence to the perimeter, and thats when Iowa State started going to the basket again. Niang scored four straight baskets for Iowa State during one stretch that made it 81-72, and scored on three straight trips to make it 86-74. The lead never got much smaller, even after Niang was whacked in the face during a scrum under the basket, prompting him to start the party for the Iowa State fans in attendance. "We felt like we had these guys in the second half," Niang said. "We came out and threw the first punch and from there it was clear skies." Cheap Blackhawks Jerseys . He made the comment at a media availability Saturday prior to Game 2 of the Boston-Montreal playoff series when a Quebec reporter said there is sentiment in Quebec that the NHL looks more favourably on Seattle than Quebec City when it comes to future expansion. Blackhawks Jerseys China .Leicester won 25-21 in a heated European Rugby Champions Cup group match on Sunday.Toulon said on its website on Wednesday that it decided to open an investigation after Leicester complained about the behaviour of prop Martin Castrogiovanni and fullback Delon Armitage. https://www.cheapblackhawks.com/ .com) - The Atlanta Hawks have stepped up to every challenge during their 14-game winning streak and will face another daunting task Friday with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder in town.BOSTON - This series played the maximum number of games (five) possible without a team facing elimination. Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. Boston needs one win, either tonight or tomorrow, to punch its ticket to the big dance. Both clubs have made a habit of appearing in the World Series over the last decade. Boston has been twice, beating St. Louis in 2004 and Colorado in 2007. Detroit has been twice, too, but has lost on both occasions, to St. Louis in 2006 and to San Francisco in 2012. Four of the five games have been decided by one run and theres no reason to believe we wont continue to watch close games between the two best teams in the American League. GAME SIX PREVIEW: PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RHP Max Scherzer (Regular season: 21-3, 2.90, 0.970 WHIP; Playoffs: 3G/2GS: 2-0, 2.25, 0.875 WHIP in 16IP) Game 2 vs. Boston: ND, 7 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 13 K, 0.571 WHIP. Scherzer was dominant a week ago but exited the game after seven innings and 108 pitches. We all know what happened next (Tigers bullpen + Meltdown + David Ortiz grand slam + Jarrod Saltalmacchia walk off = Red Sox win.) When Tigers manager Jim Leyland was questioned for his decision to remove Scherzer, Scherzer came to his skippers defense saying he was "spent." As for a pitch count in Game 6, Scherzer offered this: "You know how your arm feels within the pitch count, when you reach 80 pitches, 90, 100, 110 pitches. But when you have a win or go home type game, youre going to pitch as long as you can physically execute pitches. I have to be smart enough to know when that limit is. That wont be a number. That will be something Ill be able to tell Skip when I have reached that limit." Detroit closer Joaquin Benoit, whos given up a run in each of his last two appearances in this series (Ortiz grand slam included,) says he isnt spooked by the Red Sox and remains confident in himself and the entire bullpen. "I think everybody has contributed and I think we going to be all right. I think we got a great group of guys and we have come in and out of tough situations pretty good." LINEUP CONSIDERATIONS: Miguel Cabrera, who in Game 5 made a base running mistake resulting in him being thrown out at home, committed a costly error at third base and who grounded into a double play with runners at the corners and nobody out to quash a seventh inning threat as Detroit was attempting a comeback, will continue to play through the groin/leg injury which has rendered him limited. Cabrera has only two home runs in the playoffs but one came off Bostons Game 6 starter, Clay Buchholz, in Game 2. Both home runs, the other off Oaklands Sonny Gray in Game 5 of the ALDS, were mistake pitches left up in the strike zone, which allowed Cabrera to clear his hips through the ball and drive it out to left field. Blackhawks Jerseys 2020. The injury has rendered Cabrera unable to drive the ball to the opposite field. As long as Buchholz pounds the outer half of the strike zone, even cheats an inch or two off the plate and doesnt make a mistake, he should be able to contain Cabrera as a power threat. Meantime, Prince Fielder is still looking for his first RBI of this postseason. He heard boos from the hometown crowd after grounding out to end the eighth inning of Game 5. Catcher Alex Avila, who fouled a ball off his right foot in Game 4 and left Game 5 with a strained tendon in his left knee following a home plate collision with David Ross, is questionable for Game 6. Jose Iglesias will get the start at shortstop. Jhonny Peralta will be bumped to left field, his bat too valuable to remove from the lineup. Red Sox RHP Clay Buchholz (Regular season: 12-1, 1.74, 1.025 WHIP; Playoffs: 0-0, 6.17, 1.542 WHIP in 11.2IP) Game 2 vs. Detroit: ND, 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 6K, 1WP, 1HBP, 1.141 WHIP. Buchholz seemed to hit the proverbial wall in the sixth inning of Game 2. Through five innings, hed held the Tigers to a run on three hits. But, after retiring Torii Hunter to lead off the sixth, he hung a curveball to Miguel Cabrera, who promptly deposited the pitch over the Green Monster. Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez followed with doubles and, two hitters later, Alex Avila hit a two-run home run. After Omar Infante singled, Red Sox manager John Farrell came to get Buchholz. Farrell showed in Game 5 his willingness to go to his three best relievers for extended work. He yanked Jon Lester after only 5 1/3 innings and relied on right-hander Junichi Tazawa, left-hander Craig Breslow and right-handed closer Koji Uehara to record the games final 11 outs. Farrell knew he had an off day before Game 6, so he leaned heavily on the three he trusts most out of his bullpen. Will he have a quick trigger for Buchholz if a similar situation crops up on Saturday night? Detroits the team in the must-win situation but Boston surely doesnt want the prospect of facing Justin Verlander in a winner-take-all Game 7. Manage with the intention of winning Game 6 and worry about the ramifications of Game 7 later, I say. LINEUP CONSIDERATIONS: Jarrod Saltalamacchia will draw back in at catcher. Xander Bogaerts will make his second consecutive start at third base. Will Middlebrooks will be on the bench. GAME SIX PREDICTION: From the beginning, this series had seven games written all over it and it has shaped up to be a series well talk about for a long time. Scherzer outduels Buchholz and the Tigers score enough to give their rickety bullpen some wiggle room late in the game. The Tigers win, 5-3, and we play a seventh game on Sunday night at Fenway Park. ' ' '