Clan-Members » in the first inning, the Cubs loaded the bases. David DeJe

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- North Carolina won the Maui Invitational in 1999 and went on to reach the Final Four later that season. The Tar Heels won in paradise again in 2004 and 2008, which became springboards to national championships.After their latest Maui title -- and maybe most dominating yet -- Arizona here they come?The fourth-ranked Tar Heels capped a roughshod run through a deep Maui Invitational field by crushing No. 16 Wisconsin 71-56 in the title game Wednesday night, establishing themselves as early season favorites to reach the Final Four in Glendale next April.We have a chip on our shoulder and were going to continue to get better as the year goes on, North Carolina point guard Joel Berry II said. Were playing good right now, but I think we can still play better.The long, athletic Tar Heels (7-0) were so good in the semifinals that Oklahoma State coach Brad Underwood called them the best team in the country.The national runner-up a year ago, North Carolina looked the part again in the title game, dominating Wisconsin (4-2) at both ends of the court.The Tar Heels held the Badgers to 38 percent shooting and harassed their leading scorer, Bronson Koenig, into a 1-for-13 night.Kennedy Meeks had 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to anchor North Carolinas dominating inside game. The Tar Heels had a 36-16 advantage in the paint and 12 more rebounds against one of the nations best teams on the glass.Berry was tournament MVP, scoring 22 points while orchestrating the Tar Heels offense with precision.Isaiah Hicks scored 14 points to complement Meeks inside and Justin Jackson helped stretch Wisconsins defense with his shoot/drive ability, finishing with 12 points.Dominating as the Tar Heels were, their coach was not ready to book his trip to the Valley of the Sun just yet.Ive never seen a national championship on the day before Thanksgiving, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. Its usually a Monday night in April.North Carolina rolled over Chaminade and Oklahoma State in the first two Maui rounds, winning by a combined 75 points.The Tar Heels looked like they were headed for another runaway victory at the start of the title game, the Badgers like they had been in the sun too long on Kaanapali Beach.Unable to handle North Carolinas length on defense or hit shots when they were open, Wisconsin missed its first 11 from the field and needed nearly 7 1/2 minutes to score.Its tough when you dont hit shots, Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said.The Badgers settled down after their jittery start and cut the lead to four before North Carolina stretched it to 29-20 by halftime.Berry was the catalyst for North Carolina in the first half and continued to be in the second, scoring and pulling the strings on the Tar Heels offense.North Carolina continued to manhandle the Badgers defensively, highlighted by Brandon Robinsons track-him-down blocked shot off the backboard on Koenig midway in the second half.By the time Wisconsin made a late run, the game was well out of reach.Vitto Brown led Wisconsin with 15 points and Ethan Happ had 13.Well definitely have a lot to learn from this when we go back and watch the film, Brown said. Theres no better test this early in the season.BIG PICTURENorth Carolina has been dominant so far this season. Imagine how good the Tar Heels can be when forwards Luke Maye and Theo Pinson return from injuries.Wisconsin is good, just not Carolina good just yet.POLL IMPLICATIONSWith No. 3 Indiana losing to Fort Wayne, expect the Tar Heels to move up at least one spot, maybe more.CAROLINA REBOUNDINGWisconsin was coming off a dominant performance on the offensive glass, scoring 19 points on 20 offensive rebounds against Georgetown in the semifinals.North Carolina made defensive rebounding a priority against the Badgers and they handled it well, holding Wisconsin to four offensive rebounds and one second-chance point.UP NEXTWisconsin hosts Prairie View A&M on Sunday and faces No. 18 Syracuse next Tuesday.North Carolina has a week to prepare for a road showdown with No. 3 Indiana on Nov. 30.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. Gabriel Brazil Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Fabinho Jersey . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. http://www.soccerbrazilonline.com/Kaka-Copa-America-Jersey/ . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Diego Alves Jersey . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. Blank Jersey . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. CHICAGO -- Paul Goldschmidt cleared his head after being overpowered by Jeff Samardzija in his first three at-bats. Goldschmidt hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth inning, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 12-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night. Arizona starter Ian Kennedy (3-3) allowed four runs on three hits in seven innings and retired 20 of the final 21 batters he faced to help end Chicagos five-game winning streak. Gerardo Parra led the game off with a home run and Jason Kubel hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh inning for the Diamondbacks, who won for just the second time in 12 games at Wrigley Field. Nate Schierholtz hit a solo shot and an RBI double, but the Chicago bullpen couldnt hold a 3-1 lead for Samardzija, who was relieved after throwing 115 pitches. With the scored tied at 4 in the eighth inning, Parra hit what looked to be a go-ahead RBI double off Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol (2-3), but the ball got stuck in the ivy in the centre field wall, resulting in a ground-rule double. Willie Bloomquist, who was running on the pitch and wouldve easily scored from first, was sent back to third base. After a walk to load the bases, Goldschmidt hit a long shot off Marmols slider to centre field for his first career grand slam, giving the Diamondbacks an 8-4 lead. Goldschmidt struck out in his first three at-bats against Samardzija. "You can have three bad ABs, I dont even know if that qualifies as bad ABs. Samardzijas stuff was really good, but you get a chance to win the game in the eighth or ninth you cant live in the past," Goldschmidt said. "Its a game of failure. Its what the game is all about." Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson knows the feeling of rebounding after a few bad at-bats. "You are there, you are striking out, the fans are yelling at you, youre disappointed that youre letting the team down, but it is a great feeling when you come through. It happened to me many times," Gibson said. The Diamondbacks scored a season-high 12 runs and had a season-high 17 hits. Trailing 3-1 in the seventh inning, Goldschmidt worked a walk against Samardzija to put runners on first and second and end Samardzijas outing. After retiring the first batter he faced for the second out, Cubs reliever James Russell walked Martin Prado, and Kubel followed with a double to clear the bases and give Arizona a 4-3 lead. "One thing we did good against him we got his pitch count up. Then we got into their bullpen we got some big hits and won the game," Gibson said. After retirinng 17 straight batters, Kennedy was tagged by Schierholtz for a home run leading off the bottom of the seventh.dddddddddddd. It was Schierholtzs seventh of season. "It was probably only the second time I shook off Miggy (Miguel Montero) all game. He called a great game," said Kennedy. "It was one of those things, Gosh darn it, I should have stayed with it." Samardzija showed flashes of his dominant performance against the White Sox on Monday, but was pitching in and out of trouble most of the night. He allowed three runs and seven hits, while striking out 11 and walking three. In his previous outing against the White Sox, he pitched a two-hitter while striking out eight. The Cubs bullpen gave an up nine runs and 10 hits with four walks in 2 2-3 innings. "The bottom line is, you walk eight guys, youre not going to win too many games, no matter what, when you walk eight guys. It basically came down to the walks. Obviously they got a couple big hits to bust the game open. But the walks were the difference in the game," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. After a 2-hour, 21-minute rain delay, Parra led off the game with a home run to right. It was the fourth time in his career he led off a game with a home run and it was his fifth of the season. "Theyre a fastball-hitting team, theyre really aggressive. I knew they were on it, especially after Parras first at-bat, so I started making better pitches. Used my slider to get ahead in the count and kind of got back on track there. Splitter was good. Just avoid those walks in the seventh," Samardzija said. With no outs in the first inning, the Cubs loaded the bases. David DeJesus scored on Alfonso Sorianos sacrifice fly then Schierholtz hit an RBI double down the right field line. Anthony Rizzo scored on Welington Castillos ground out to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead. Sveum was ejected by home plate umpire Joe West in the second inning after arguing a close call at first base. It was his second ejection of the season. Kennedy was back on the mound after missing his last start because he cut his right index finger while washing a knife. NOTES: Arizona 3B Eric Chavez is expected to miss two to three weeks after an MRI revealed a minor tear of his right oblique muscle. ... Diamondbacks placed RHP Brandon McCarthy on the disabled list Saturday because of right shoulder inflammation and recalled RHP Randall Delgado from Triple-A Reno. ... In his first game of the season, Bloomquist was 3 for 4. He was activated from the DL on Friday with an oblique injury. ' ' '