The Iona Gaels face a daunting task, as they hit the road to challenge the second-ranked Kansas Jayhawks tonight. cheap jerseys from china . Watch all the action unfold live on TSN2 at 8pm et/5pm pt. Iona is 1-1 on the young season, the team opening with a 73-69 loss at Cleveland State on Nov. 9, but bouncing back with a 76-55 home victory over Wofford a week later. The Gaels are preparing for the rigors of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play, which for them begins at home against Marist on Dec. 4. Kansas is undefeated after two games, with its initial win coming at home over ULM, 80-63, and its second in a marquee matchup in Chicago against Duke last Tuesday, 94-83. The Jayhawks, who moved into the second spot in this weeks AP poll, have won 64 consecutive home games against non-conference foes, and the team is gearing up for what should be another highly competitive slate of Big 12 Conference bouts. KU begins league play at Oklahoma on Jan. 8, 2014. This game marks only the fourth all-time meeting between Iona and Kansas, with the Jayhawks winning two of the first three, the most recent of which took place in Kansas City back in 1988. Its only been two games, one of which resulted in a loss, but Iona is already establishing itself as a team that can boast some pretty potent scorers. Sean Armand is averaging 18.5 ppg, David Laury 17.0 ppg and Isaiah Williams 13.5 ppg, helping the squad put up 72.5 ppg despite shooting just 41.3 percent from the field. The Gaels defensive effort has been decent, with foes generating just 64 ppg in hitting their shots a mere 38.9 percent of the time. Laury led the team in the first game with 19 points, while Armand was high man in the win over Wofford with 20. In that latter contest, Williams added 19 points, and Laury finished with 15 for a club that struggled in the first half (.290 FG percentage), but turned it on after intermission (.680). Williams and Armand combined for eight 3-pointers. The Gaels easily won the rebounding battle (37-24), and used a 15-7 edge in points from the foul line to put the game away. Kansas has no shortage of talented players who can all but take over a game at the drop of the hat. Most of the spotlight has been turned on freshman sensation Andrew Wiggins, and he hasnt disappointed as he currently leads the team in scoring at 19.0 ppg. Wiggins is coming off a 22-point effort in the win over Duke, and he was also one of the top rebounders as well with eight caroms. Perry Ellis (18.0 ppg) actually paced the Jayhawks in the statement victory, scoring 24 points while also grabbing nine boards, and both Wayne Selden, Jr. (11.5 ppg) and Frank Mason made significant contributions as well, netting 15 points apiece. Kansas made good on 56.1 percent of its field goal attempts, but allowed the Blue Devils to connect on 51.7 percent of their total shots. A 39-24 edge in rebounding, along with a 27-16 advantage in points from the foul line played an integral role in the outcome for coach Bill Selfs club. cheap nfl jerseys . -- Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is listed as probable to return to the lineup Sunday against the New Orleans Saints after missing the past three games with a high ankle sprain. nfl jerseys china . Brandon Triche added 16 points, seven rebounds and two steals for the Orange (17-0, 4-0 Big East), who started 18-0 last season before dropping their first game. C.J. Fair donated 13 points and eight boards for Syracuse, which got 12 points and seven assists from Dion Waiters. TORONTO -- Theres something about facing the Boston Red Sox of late that brings out the best in Ricky Romero. The Toronto left-hander allowed just one run and three hits over a dominant 8 1/3 innings to lead the Blue Jays to a 3-1 win Wednesday afternoon at Rogers Centre. Romero won his third straight start against Boston dating back to last season and the 8 1-3 innings was his longest outing in 14 career starts against the Red Sox. "I had a good feel for my sinker, I didnt beat the ball into the ground a lot and when youre able to do that you cant get away from it until they make that adjustment," Romero said. "And when they did make that adjustment I had a good curveball going. "These guys are so tough to pitch to sometimes and you have to keep them off-balance and make good pitches." Toronto (4-2) won the rubber match of the series behind the performance of its ace, who at one point retired 17 straight Boston hitters in a superbly pitched game that required just two hours 13 minutes to complete. After allowing a run and three hits in the third inning, Romero, who led Toronto last season in starts (32), wins (15), innings pitched (225) and earned-run average (2.92), really settled into a groove before opening the ninth with consecutive walks to Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia. They moved to third and second, respectively, on Adrian Gonzalezs sacrifice fly, which spelled the end to Romeros day. Closer Sergio Santos, who blew two save chances earlier this season, fanned Kevin Youkilis and got David Ortiz to hit into a game-ending groundout to cement the victory. "Ricky was the story here today," said Toronto manager John Farrell. "I know how much he wanted to finish this game but he more than did his job and Santos came in and somewhat redeemed himself from his first couple of outings and did what we really anticipated when we acquired him (in off-season from Chicago White Sox)." Santos, who was roundly booed off the field after blowing the save opportunity in the series opener Monday night, was glad to have redeemed himself. "There was quite a bit on my mind just because of everything thats happened," Santos said. "It was nice to block all that out, get out there and throw some effective pitches. "Look, I wouldve booed myself too (Monday night) because it was such a terrible job so its nice to finally have my first good outing before these fans. I know theyre passionate about their sports and thats all you can ask for." Romero (1-0) outduelled Boston left-hander Jon Lester before 25,285 spectators -- many of them school kids -- at Rogers Centre. It was the lowest attendance of the series after more than 48,000 took in the Red Soxs 4-2 win Monday before 26,251 witnessed Torontos 7-3 victory Tuesday night. Romero easily surpassed his performance in Torontos season opener in Cleveland last Thursday when he allowed three hits (including a homer) and four earned runs over five innings. But J.P. Arencibias three-run homer in the 16th inning paced the Blue Jays to a 7-4 victory over the Indians. "I felt way better than I did opening day," Romero said. "Any time you go deep in the game thats what it is all about. "I think at times against Boston I tried to do too much and walks killed me against them. I looked at video of my last two starts against them last year and it was just strike one, pound the zone and I had a good rhythm goinng against them.cheap jerseys. " A fact not lost upon Youkilis. "Usually he gets a little wild and doesnt command the ball and today he did," Youkilis said of Romero. "He was going in and out and up and down. "Thats why he was so effective, he tried to throw more strikes and not get behind the hitters." Lester (0-1) was certainly a hard-luck loser, allowing three runs and three hits in going the distance for Boston (1-5). He set down 15 straight Toronto hitters before surrendering a two-out walk to Rajai Davis in the eighth. Yunel Escobar gave Toronto its 3-1 lead with a run-scoring single that brought home Davis after he stole second on a failed pickoff attempt. "A couple of balls that I left up they hit and scored some runs," Lester said. "You cant do things like that against Romero and (Detroit ace Justin) Verlander it makes it too hard on our offence to give them the lead and have our guys try and fight from behind." Boston finds itself in a familiar position when it opened last season losing 10 of its first 12 games. "Were not playing good right now," Lester said. "The games we pitch well we dont hit, the games we dont pitch well hit we hit. "Nobody in that clubhouse wants to start slow regardless of years past. We said last year, it sucks to hear, but its a long season." Romero came in with a career 4-6 record against Boston and a bloated 7.12 ERA. Last year he was 2-2 in four starts against the Red Sox with a 6.56 ERA, giving up 28 hits, 17 earned runs, four homers and 12 walks in 23 1-3 innings while striking out 17. Lester, on the other hand, was 10-4 against Toronto lifetime with a 3.06 ERA. Last season, he posted a 3-0 record versus the Jays with a 2.08 ERA and pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out a season-high 11 in his last start against the club, a 14-0 win Sept. 6. Boston opened the scoring in the third after Romero retired the first six batters he faced. Ellsburys run-scoring single scored Mike Aviles, who singled and went to second on Kelly Shoppachs fielders choice. That still left two runners on base for Romero, who got out of the jam by striking out Pedroia and getting Gonzalez to ground out. Toronto went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the third on Yunel Escobars sacrifice fly, which scored Davis. Davis drove in the Jays opening run with a triple that scored Eric Thames, who had singled and went to second on a wild pitch. Kelly Johnson walked and reached second on a passed ball but was stranded there on Jose Bautistas inning-ending groundout. Bautista, who led the majors with 43 homers last season, was hitless in three plate appearances and a dismal 0-for-11 in the series overall. Notes:@ Both teams have Thursday off before starting new series. Toronto will open a three-game set against Baltimore on Friday while Boston holds its home opener against Tampa Bay. The Rays will then be at Rogers Centre to face the Blue Jays starting Tuesday night. ... The groundscrew at Rogers Centre jumped the gun in the fifth inning, coming out to clean the field before Davis was out. ... Johnson went hitless after having registered hits in Torontos five previous games. Ryan Sweeney had done the same for Boston before also going hitless Wednesday. ... Torontos bullpen has been busy this season, having worked a major league-high 24 2-3 innings prior to Wednesdays game. The units 2.55 ERA ranked fourth in the American League. cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '
