TUCSON, Ariz. [url=https://www.cheapbulls.com/]Wholesale Bulls Jerseys[/url] . -- The Arizona Wildcats are poised to become the top-ranked basketball team in the nation, and they can thank T.J. McConnell for the opportunity. The transfer point guard from Duquesne had 13 points, six assists and seven

TUCSON, Ariz. Wholesale Bulls Jerseys . -- The Arizona Wildcats are poised to become the top-ranked basketball team in the nation, and they can thank T.J. McConnell for the opportunity. The transfer point guard from Duquesne had 13 points, six assists and seven rebounds, making critical plays down the stretch, and No. 2 Arizona escaped with a 63-58 victory over UNLV on Saturday. Brandon Ashley also had 13 points, and Nick Johnson and Kaleb Tarczewski added 12 apiece for the Wildcats. However, Johnson shot just 4 for 15. With No. 1 ranked Michigan State falling to North Carolina, Arizona (9-0) seems a safe bet to move to No 1. "I think its something we feel like weve earned," Wildcats coach Sean Miller said. "We know that being ranked No. 1 doesnt mean that we won the championship or the seasons now over, but Im not going to play the negative card at all. ... To be ranked No. 1 is maybe the greatest compliment you can have." Bryce DeJean-Jones scored 16 points, Khem Birch had 12 and Roscoe Smith 10 for the Rebels (3-4) in their first road game of the season. Smith entered the game as the top rebounder in the country at 16 per game. He finished this one with six rebounds, just one on offence as Arizona outrebounded UNLV 41-29, 18-5 on the offensive boards. "There were times I felt that I was boxing out three guys," Smith said. "Arizona is ranked No. 2 and now will be No. 1, so they didnt just get there with no one." There were 18 lead changes and neither team led by more than six points. McConnell sank a 15-footer with 3:10 to play to put Arizona up for good, 58-57. After Dejean-Jones missed a 3-pointer, McConnells pretty bounce pass to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for a dunk made it 60-57 with 2:20 to play. UNLV managed one field goal in the final six minutes, Birchs rebound basket that gave the Rebels their last lead at 57-56 with 3:30 to play. Birch made one of two free throws with 1:52 to go to cut Arizonas lead to 60-58, but McConnell found Ashley for a basket with 27 seconds to go to make it 62-58. McConnell made one of two free throws with 15.3 seconds to go to wrap up the scoring. "Hes in many ways the heart and soul of what we do," Miller said, "and I think you saw that in many ways in the second half." McConnell said he "just tried to slow the game down, let it come to me." "I kind of live for those moments," he said, "and I know we all do." There were 30 turnovers in the game, 16 by UNLV and 14 by Arizona. The Rebels shot 64 per cent in the first half (16 for 25) to Arizonas 52 per cent (17 of 33) and led 42-39 at the break. The scoring dropped drastically in the second half, with Arizona outscoring UNLV 24-16. The Rebels shot 28 per cent (7 for 25) in the second half while Arizona was at 32 per cent (11 of 34). Miller said that was the emphasis at halftime, to get back to his teams identity -- defence and rebounding. He praised the UNLV effort, saying he saw a bunch of talented players playing together as a team. Thats the way Rebels coach Dave Rice saw it, too. "We were a confident group coming in here and we felt we had a great week of practice," Rice said. "We spent most of this season getting to know one another and we have made major strides." There were 19 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, 10 by UNLV and nine by the Wildcats. Every one of the seven Arizona players who played in the first half had at least one turnover. The Wildcats led 37-31 on McConnells reverse layup on a pass from Hollis-Jefferson with 3:35 to play. Arizona was up 39-35 on Hollis-Jeffersons spin move inside with just under two minutes to go, but Roscoe Smith sank a 17-footer, Kevin Olekaibe hit a 3 and Kendall Smith scored on a reverse layup to give UNLV its three-point halftime cushion. Arizona scored the first six points of the second half to go up 45-42, but the Rebels scored the next six to lead 48-45 on Dejean-Jones 16-footer with 15:36 to play. A 5-0 spurt regained the lead for Arizona, Aaron Gordons emphatic dunk on a pass from Ashley made it 52-49 with 12:05 to go. Again, the Rebels responded, scoring the next six and the back-and-forth battle persisted. The capacity crowd at McKale Center was decked out in white for the teams annual "white out" promotion. Arizona had lost its previous two white outs, and this one was shaky. Chicago Bulls Pro Shop . Rodgers was ruled out on Friday by Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Matt Flynn will make his second consecutive start for the Packers. Chicago Bulls Shirts . -- Chicago manager Darold Butler has a message for the Windy City. https://www.cheapbulls.com/ .com) - Patrick Reed poured in a 19-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Monday to defeat Jimmy Walker and win the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.SUN CITY, South Africa -- Luke Donalds fast start in the Nedbank Golf Challenge was halted by lightning Thursday, leaving the former top-ranked Englishman ahead by two shots at 5 under through 11 holes. No one was able to play more than 12 holes because of lightning and a thunderstorm. Donald began the 30-man invitational with a birdie and an eagle and was 5 under when the days second interruption for lightning forced players off for good. He was two ahead of Jamie Donaldson and Thomas Bjorn. "I feel good over the ball right now and I am playing with confidence," Donald said, coming off a win in Japan two weeks ago. Wales Donaldson played 12 holes, while Denmarks Bjorn was 3 under with three birdies in his six holes. Brendon de Jonge was due to join those two on 3 under and two off the lead after spinning a wedge back into the hole from 110 yards for an eagle three on No. 9 right as the weather hooter sounded. His score wasnt yet officially registered as his playing partners hadnt completed the hole. Playing for the first time since ending last season with the FedEx Cup and European money list title, Henrik Stenson was 1 under after seven and tied for fifth, with six straight pars after a birdie on No 1. Boosted by his victory at the Dunlop Phoenix, Donalds quick start at Sun City came off sweetly struck iron shots into the greens at his opening two holes. Chicago Bulls Store. He also picked up back-to-back birdies at the end of his opening nine. "Lovely start," he said. "It doesnt get much better than three-three around here. Birdie, eagle and all of a sudden you are three under par through two holes. I played solid for those first 11 holes and hit a couple of very nice shots in that time that I was able to take advantage of." Defending champion Martin Kaymer is in the mix at 2 under, while Charl Schwartzel led the South African challenge as one of seven players tied at 1 under par. Sergio Garica is also part of that group, as is Peter Uihlein of the United States. Ernie Els was 3 over after seven in search of his fourth title at Sun City and U.S. Open champion Justin Rose was 4 over after eight. Only Australias Peter Senior, with three double bogeys in his first six holes to crash to 8 over through 10, was worse than Rose. Having initially been kept off the course for nearly three hours through an earlier thunderstorm, the players came off for the second time in late afternoon and will all have to come back at 7:30 Friday morning to complete their opening rounds. ' ' '