Clan-Members » cquiao. Hes also full of confidence

Saint Marys and Western Kentucky are both feeling pretty good about themselves heading into their matchup on the Gaels home court Wednesday night.The 20th-ranked Gaels (7-1) bounced back from their first defeat of the season -- a 65-51 home loss to Texas-Arlington last Thursday -- with a strong performance in an 84-53 victory over UC-Irvine on Sunday.We played better tonight, Gaels coach Randy Bennett said after the game. That was the best weve played in a while.Saint Marys hit 56 percent of its field-goal attempts, improving its season shooting percentage to 50.9 percent, ninth best in the country. The Gaels also made 10 of 17 3-point attempts, putting them at 40.2 percent for the season.Immediately after that strong performance, Bennett had a quick assessment of Western Kentucky.They beat Indiana State today, he said, obviously impressed.Indeed, the Hilltoppers (4-5) recorded an admirable 77-59 road win on Sunday over an Indiana State team that had defeated 15th-ranked Butler four days earlier on the same court.Tonight was our best game, by far -- a complete game, as a team, first-year Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury said.The Hilltoppers hit 53.2 percent of their shots, a marked improvement for a team that was hitting just 40.1 percent coming into the game.This was the most efficient weve been offensively, Stansbury said. Tonight was our best effort of offensive toughness. Thats why we shot 53 percent.Just as significant was Western Kentuckys defensive effort, limiting the Sycamores to 37.9 percent shooting.We took their best two players and basically took them out of the game, Stansbury said.Brenton Scott, Indiana States top scorer, managed 17 points but was just 6 of 19 from the field, including 0 of 7 from long range. Matt Van Scyoc, the Sycamores No. 2 scorer, had just one point and missed all three of his field-goal attempts after scoring 23 points against Butler.It was Western Kentuckys first road win since Feb. 26 against Middle Tennessee.Im proud of our guys, said Stanbury, a former coach at Mississippi State. Weve been fighting. Several games we would get down in the second half and hit a wall.Western Kentucky had an 11-point lead late in the first half that Indiana State whittled down to one point early in the second half. But, instead of hitting a wall, the Hilltoppers dominated the final eight minutes to win going away.Pancake Thomas scored 22 points for the Hilltoppers while the teams leading scorer, Que Johnson, added 15 points, and Justin Johnson collected 14 points and 10 rebounds.That ended the Hilltoppers four-game losing streak, which included a 39-point loss to Washington and a 19-point loss to Eastern Kentucky. The question is whether the win over Indiana State was a fluke or an indication that Western Kentucky has improved significantly.The competition only gets stiffer as Saint Marys is the first Top 25 team the Hilltoppers will face this season.The Gaels got back on track against Irvine after their misstep against Texas-Arlington.I wasnt that concerned, Bennett said of the loss. I knew we had a stinker.The Gaels dropped eight spots in the rankings as a result of the loss, but did not drop completely out of the Top 25.Center Jock Landale still leads the Gaels at 18.4 points per game, although he has not exceeded 15 points in any of his last three games. Vans Old Skool Ireland . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Clearance Old Skool Ireland . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. http://www.clearanceoldskoolireland.com/ .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Vans Old Skool Womens Ireland . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. Vans Old Skool Sale Ireland . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. LAS VEGAS -- The hook for Manny Pacquiaos latest fight is that hes the fighting politician, as eager to take on problems in the Philippines as he is to take on other welterweights in the ring.Unfortunately for Pacquiao, at this stage of his career he needs a hook to sell his fights.Pacquiao meets a likable but relatively unknown Jessie Vargas on Saturday, with a piece of the welterweight title at stake. In the past that might have been enough to excite boxing fans, but Pacquiao is aging and so is his appeal.He probably should have retired after not showing up for the biggest fight of his life against Floyd Mayweather Jr. He certainly should have retired after getting elected to the senate in the Philippines, where hes an ally of President Rodrigo Duterte.Yet he plods on, partly because he reportedly needs the money. He got a few million dollars to fight Timothy Bradley in April but is fighting on percentages against Vargas, so the sales pitch is necessary.Pacquiaos longtime trainer, Freddie Roach, held out the possibility this week of a rematch with Mayweather, saying he has been told that Mayweather has been back in the ring sparring recently. But the first fight took five years to make and it seems a stretch to think Mayweather would come out of retirement to fight Pacquiao once again.Still, Roach says hes convinced Pacquiao has one or two more big fights left in him.Mannys like the old Manny now, Roach insisted after spending a month training Pacquiao in the Philippines. I like this Manny a lot.To Pacquiaos credit he did look re-energized in April when he beat Bradley in the third fight between the two men. It was his first fight since losing to Mayweather, a loss he blamed on a bad shoulder that has since been surgically repaired.But the fight with Vargas is a tough sell, which is why promoter Bob Arum stacked the undercard with competitive fights and is selling tickets for as little as $50. Arum is also selling the pay-per-view himself after HBO declined to take part in the distribution of the fight, and Pacquiaos purse will largely depend on how well it does.ddddddddddddnything north of 600,000 buys would be a big night and hed make a lot of money, Arum said. Im hoping he makes money like the Manny of old.Arum, of course, is way overestimating what the fight will do, but his job as Pacquiaos promoter is to get people interested. Since Vargas is not well known, its a difficult sell even with an attractive undercard.Pacquiao is taking a familiar path for an aging fighter, trying to squeeze a few more fights in before finally hanging up his gloves. Hes got the right to fight whoever he wants, but fight fans also have the right to vote with their wallets on the matchup.He is a champion (Vargas holds the WBO version of the welterweight title) so you cant underestimate him, Pacquiao said. But I still feel fresh and young.Vargas will be fighting in his home town and is taller than Pacquiao. Hes also full of confidence after stopping Sadam Ali in March for the WBO version of the 147-pound title.When I defeat Manny Pacquiao they will see that I beat a good Manny Pacquiao who is still performing at the highest level, Vargas said. Thats the Manny Pacquiao that I want to beat.The real problem for Pacquiao isnt his opponent, though Arum could have easily put undefeated Terrence Crawford in the ring against him instead of Vargas. Its that he turned off a big portion of his fans in a stinker of a fight against Mayweather and will probably never get them back.He used to sell a million pay-per-views whenever he stepped into the ring. But he barely sold 300,000 for his fight against Bradley, and this one doesnt figure to do any more.The fight features an attractive undercard that includes Nonito Donaire against Jessie Magdaleno, Oscar Valdez vs. Hiroshige Osawa, and Shiming Zou vs. Prasitsak Phaprom, all in WBO title bouts. ' ' '