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PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- They slowed it down to a crawl in the beginning, then went as fast as they could at the end. An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. 2 Kansas 67-63 on Saturday night in the third-place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis. "Let me just say that we got beat by a fine team tonight," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. "And theyre going to do a lot of things, I think, in the NCAA tournament this year." McKenzie Moore scored 15 for UTEP (4-4), including three free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining to get the Miners within three. Justin Crosgile scored 14 points and Vince Hunter added 10 the Miners, who held Kansas to 39 per cent shooting. "I was real pleased with the effort," Floyd said. Perry Ellis scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, Wayne Selden Jr. scored 14 and Joel Embiid came off the bench to add nine points, seven blocked shots -- all in the second half-- and six rebounds for the Jayhawks (6-1), who will likely drop from the No. 2 spot in the national rankings this coming week. Still, the Jayhawks will likely be on everybodys list of must-watch teams come March, and that gives Floyd plenty of hope for the Miners season. "We have a long ways to go to become a good basketball team," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And thats not all bad, either. We rarely have great teams in November. But were not as good as we were 17, 18 days ago. So thats a little frustrating that weve gone backwards. We didnt play well at all over here." Naadir Tharpe added 11 for the Jayhawks, who never trailed. The Jayhawks won despite Andrew Wiggins being held to six points, nearly 10 below the freshmans season average. It was the second straight night where Kansas saw a big early lead, 11-2 against Villanova and 15-2 against UTEP, evaporate and the game turn into a struggle. The finish saw UTEP scoring 13 points in just over a minute and carving away most of a late 14-point Jayhawk lead, but Kansas had enough. Barely, but enough. And if UTEP had been better from the line, it might have been a different story -- the Miners missed 10 of 24 tries from the stripe. Kansas led by 15 in the second half, and after a series of UTEP rallies, the Jayhawks were still up by 14 following Ellis jumper from the right wing with 2:21 left. It was 59-45 at that point. It was 18-8 UTEP the rest of the way, a far cry from how the Miners started the night. On UTEPs first possession, Floyd -- who isnt exactly shy about going against convention, with his box-and-one and triangle-and-two defences on display often in the Bahamas -- did something hardly ever seen anymore, especially at the start of games. He stalled, though said afterward that it wasnt a true stall, just a set with hopes of creating 3-on-2 mismatches or open drives. Think the old North Carolina "four corners," or something akin to it, anyway. Thats what the Miners did in the opening minutes, running an average of 30.1 seconds off the 35-second shot clock on their first nine possessions. Simple logic, really -- the fewer possessions Kansas had, the fewer chances it would have to score. It only sort of worked. After 5 1/2 minutes, Kansas had only two points. In that same span, the Miners had zero points. "It was different ... but I thought we adjusted well," Ellis said. The Miners missed their first six shots and didnt get on the board until 12:35 remained in the half, a drive by C.J. Cooper snapping an 0 for 6 start by UTEP and cutting Kansas lead to 7-2. By the time UTEP scored again, Kansas had already pushed the lead out to 15-2, running off eight straight. And along the way, UTEP ditched the ploy and just started playing. Thats when it became a game, for really the first time. UTEP went on an 18-11 spurt, getting within 26-20 late in the half. Wiggins -- who had been scoreless until then -- scored six straight to give Kansas a 12-point lead with 1:30 left, and Seldens acrobatic drive gave the Jayhawks a 34-25 lead at the break. But UTEP hung around, all the way to the end. "We didnt want to leave here without getting better for the rest of the season," Hunter said. "I believe we did. I believe we got better, playing the No. 2 team in the country." Ottawa Senators Jerseys . If Vettel wins at Suzuka on Sunday, and his nearest rival Fernando Alonso finishes worse than eighth, the German driver will join his compatriot Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four consecutive titles. Mark Stone Jersey . The 2014 edition will be the ninth meeting between the Caps and Vikes in a tradition that dates back to 2005. "Since the original Whitecaps, the club has enjoyed fantastic support from fans in Victoria and all across Vancouver Island," said Whitecaps FC president Bob Lenarduzzi. http://www.senatorssale.com/customized/.com) - Nicolas Colsaerts fired an 11-under 60 on Thursday and grabbed a 3-stroke lead with the opening round of the Portugal Masters suspended by rain. Jason Spezza Jersey . First-half goals by Will Bruin and Oscar Boniek Garcia sucked the life out of the Impact as the Houston Dynamo bounced them from Major League Soccers post-season with a 3-0 victory on Thursday. Daniel Alfredsson Jersey . -- Alex Anthopoulos spoke volumes with what he didnt say on right-hander Ervin Santana.The wins keep coming for the Toronto Raptors, who continue to flourish behind a collective group effort. Toronto tries to extend its winning streak to six for the first time in six seasons when it visits the Atlanta Hawks tonight. Catch all the action on TSN Radio 1050 starting at 7pm ET. The Raptors (12-2) have climbed to the top of the Eastern Conference after winning 10 of 11, including five straight by an average of 17.0 points. Toronto hasnt posted six consecutive victories in the same season since March 22-April 4, 2009. When we win, we still have very serious conversations about how we can get better, backup guard Lou Williams, who spent the previous two seasons in Atlanta, told the Raptors official website. Guys hang out a lot off the court in this group just talking about things we can do to turn that page, go to the next step and get to that next level. The culture has been building and its a positive experience. DeMar DeRozan is averaging a team-leading 20.2 points while Kyle Lowry ranks second at 18.4. The Raptors, third in the league with 106.7 points per game, have three others players averaging double figures in Williams (13.6), Jonas Valanciunas (12.3) and Terrence Ross (10.9). Its a (heck) of an unselfish team, Lowry said. Its a team where it doesnt matter who is most successful. Everybody wants to win games. Williams scored a career-high 36 points in Saturdays 110-93 win at Cleveland, and Valanciunas posted a career-high 27 points and 11 rebounds in Mondays 104-100 victory over Phoenix. DeRozan scored 14 of his 23 in the second half as Toronto retook control after blowing a 17-point lead. Each night iss going to be a different story and each night there is going to be a different star of the story, coach Dwane Casey said.dddddddddddd Everybody has to step up when their chances come. We try to run things that go with the guys that have it going. The Raptors had a season-high 52 points in the paint and scored 24 off 20 turnovers. They have won 35 in a row when leading after three quarters, including all 10 games this season. Toronto took a 15-point lead into the fourth before getting by Atlanta 109-102 in both teams season opener Oct. 29. The Raptors had dropped 15 of 18 in the series before winning four of the last six. Another victory could be hard to come by in Atlanta, where Toronto has lost 10 of 12. The Hawks have averaged 104.5 points in opening 5-1 on their own court. Atlanta (7-5) returns home looking to make it three in a row after pulling out a 106-102 victory at Washington on Tuesday. Jeff Teague scored a season high-tying 28 points for the second time in as many games while reserves Mike Scott and Shelvin Mack combined for 30, including the Hawks first 16 points in the fourth quarter. We have a lot of confidence in those two guys, coach Mike Budenholzer said. They believe in each other and believe in what theyre doing on both ends of the court. At times they can both get going. Teague is averaging 26.3 points over the last three games, up from his season mark of 17.8. Hes averaging 23.3 during a three-game stretch against Toronto. DeRozan is averaging 23.9 points on 50.0 percent shooting in the last 10 games against Atlanta, but was held to 15 on 4 of 16 from the floor in last months matchup. 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