College basketball has become a guards game. No wonder Iowa State starts the season as a Top 25 team.Although there are serious questions about the frontcourt, the Cyclones enter Friday nights lidlifter with Savannah State as the No. 24 team in the nation for three good reasons -- Monte Morris, Matt Thomas and Naz Mitrou-Long.The three-headed backcourt will be among the best in the country, starring Morris, a first-team preseason All-America pick by some pundits. Thomas and Long are terrific 3-point shooters who can do other things, like rebound and defend.Add 6-5, 250-pound Deonte Burton, a power forward disguised in a guards body, and Iowa State will be able to attack opponents from many different angles.Those four guys are all upperclassmen and theyve got to be what makes this team go, second-year Cyclones coach Steve Prohm said. They have to be our mainstays.Particularly when one considers the holes left up front by the departure of starting forwards Georges Niang, Abdul Nader and Jameel McKay. The trio combined to average 44.5 points and 20 rebounds a game last season.Niang averaged 28.7 points during three NCAA Tournament games, capping one of the greatest careers in school history. He finished as the programs No. 2 scorer with 2,228 points and is Iowa States only two-time All-American.Prohm is hoping to get at least adequate play from a plethora of newcomers, two of whom bring extensive Division I experience. Graduate transfers Darrell Bowie (Northern Illinois) and Merrill Holden (Louisiana Tech), along with 6-8 freshman Solomon Young, figure to get the most playing time right off the bat.In Sunday nights 101-57 exhibition rout of Sioux Falls, Young scored 12 points and added four rebounds in 12 minutes, while Bowie grabbed seven rebounds in 12 minutes. Holden started and rejected four shots in 16 minutes.I thought Merrill, the first 10 minutes, his energy level was really good, Prohm said. I thought Solomon came out and did some good things. I thought Bowies energy level was good. Thats what we need from these guys.While the Cyclones are coming off a 23-12 season, the Tigers went 16-16 after being picked for a 12th-place finish in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They qualified for the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, losing in the first round to Texas-Arlington.But Savannah State lost four starters off that team and is picked near the bottom of the MEAC again this season, as it has eight new players on its roster. However, its one returnee is 6-4 swingman Troyce Manassa, who led the Tigers in scoring at 12.4 per game while adding 5.1 rebounds.Savannah State coach Horace Broadnax, who played for John Thompsons Georgetown team that won the 1984 NCAA Championship, plans to build this team around Manassa.He can do it all, Broadnax said. He can score the basketball and pass the basketball. When we need someone to make a play, well put it in his hands.The Tigers wont be eligible for postseason play due to low APR scores. Cheap Jets Jerseys .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. Custom Jets Jerseys . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. http://www.customnhljetsjersey.com/custom-keith-tkachuk-jersey-large-70p.html . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. Cheap Custom Jets Jersey . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Custom Jets Jersey China .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert was treated to fans chanting his name when he left the field on Saturday.Welcome to the win column, kid.The poised true freshman threw for 489 yards and four touchdowns and Oregon snapped a five-game losing streak with a 54-35 victory over Arizona State.I think the best part was the win, Herbert said afterward. Im just glad that we got the win. It meant a lot to our team and a lot to our coaches.Pharaoh Brown caught seven passes for a career-best 129 yards and two touchdowns as the Ducks (3-5, 1-4 Pac-12) finally got a conference win and appeared to snap out of their prolonged funk.Herbert, a true freshman who was making his third career start after taking over the job from graduate transfer Dakota Prukop, has scored 12 touchdowns over that span. Herberts passing yards against the Sun Devils matched Bill Musgraves record of 489 set against BYU in 1989.Herbert tossed a short pass to Brown, who took off down the sidelines and stiff-armed the last defender for a 75-yard touchdown on the Ducks first series of the game. It was his ninth touchdown pass: Last weekend he tied the school record with six TD passes in a 49-52 overtime loss at California.Hes just going out there and having fun, coach Mark Helfrich said. And the guys are certainly rallying around him.Herbert said afterward his progress has been a matter of feeling more comfortable with his receivers.I think a lot of it was timing with the receivers, he said. I hadnt practiced with the No. 1 guys as much as I would have liked to.The Sun Devils (5-4, 2-4) also started a freshman at quarterback. Dillon Sterling-Cole was pressed into service in last weekends 37-32 loss to Washington State after Manny Wilkins was injured.Sterling-Cole passed for 302 yards and his first career touchdown, but he also threw three interceptions. Kalen Ballage ran for 62 yards and two scores, including a 15-yard run that got the Sun Devils within 30-22 in the third quarter.I was really proud of Dillon even though we turned the ball over three times, Arizona State coach Todd Graham said. I was really proud of how he played. I thought he played with great courage.Sterling-Coles first career TD pass was a 9-yarder to fellow freshman NKeal Harry that drew the Sun Devils closer at 33-28 early in the fourth quarter. But Herbert hit Johnny Mundt with aa 53-yard scoring pass.ddddddddddddfter Arizona State capitalized on an Oregon fumble, returning it 45 yards, Ballage tossed a 3-yard scoring pass to Kody Kohl with 6:39 left. The Ducks again answered with Tony Brooks-James 58-yard scoring run. Royce Freeman added a late 10-yard rushing TD for the final margin.Ballage also caught six passes for 105 yards.THE TAKEAWAYArizona State: Walk-on Tyler McClure, who is not on scholarship, made his second career start at center for the Sun Devils. Starting center AJ McCollum dressed but did not play against the Ducks. Arizona State has been depleted by injuries. In addition to Wilkins, top running back Demario Richard (532 yards, 3 TDs) was out, as was cornerback Kareem Orr and safety Armand Perry. Left guard Stephon McCray was injured on Arizona States first series of the game.When Stephon went down that was 10 starters out, Graham said. I dont think Ive ever had anything like that. No excuse. Weve got to have other guys step up.Oregon: It was the Ducks 10th straight victory over the Sun Devils. ... Oregon avoided a six-game losing streak with the win. The Ducks have not lost that many straight games since 1991. They need to win three of their final four games for bowl eligibility.QUOTABLE: We got to sing the fight song. That was amazing, Brown said about the mood in the locker room. Weve been waiting five weeks to sing that song. -- Pharaoh Brown.SIGN SHIELDS: Last year the Ducks turned heads when they used large white sheets on the sideline at Sun Devil Stadium to hide signals. This season the shields were more refined black curtains emblazed with an image of the Oregon Duck. The shields have been used in response to allegations that Arizona State steals signs, which became an issue last week when Washington State coach Mike Leach revived the issue.Leach was later reprimanded and fined $10,000 for the comments. After the Cougars defeated the Sun Devils, ASU coach Todd Graham confronted Leach, who walked away.UP NEXTThe Sun Devils are off next week before hosting Utah on Nov. 10. The Utes fell 31-24 at home to No. 4 Washington on Saturday.The Ducks visit USC next week. The Trojans are coming off a 45-24 win at home against California on Thursday night. ' ' '