a second-tier closer. Even Jose Abreu might fetch just a mod

MADISON, Wis. -- Coming off a difficult early season stretch, playing in front of a tepid home crowd and with final exams looming, the conditions were almost in place for No. 17 Wisconsin to suffer a letdown Wednesday night.Only one thing was missing: a worthy opponent.Bronson Koenig scored 21 points, Ethan Happ had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and the Badgers rolled past Idaho State 78-44.Wisconsin (8-2) scored the first 10 points and opened up a 21-3 lead as the Bengals (1-8) could only muster a single 3-pointer in the opening 11 1/2 minutes.It kind of took a while there to get going, kind of a little dead, Wisconsin guard Zak Showalter said. Weve just got to create our own energy sometimes. Its games like this where you kind of get tested, and youve just got to be ready to go every game. I think we responded well.The Badgers were coming off a stretch of four games that included three against schools that played in last seasons Final Four. Wisconsin lost to North Carolina in Maui on Nov. 23, then beat Syracuse on Nov. 29 and Oklahoma on Saturday, both at home.The Badgers held Bengals leading scorer Ethan Telfair (19.8 ppg) to two points on 1-of-9 shooting, with his only basket coming with 5:57 left in the game.I think they know if you can stop him, theres a good chance were going to have a hard time scoring the ball, Bengals coach Bill Evans said. I think thats about as good a job as anybody has done on him in two years.Balint Mocsan had 10 points to lead Idaho State.BIG PICTUREIdaho State: The Bengals had their first winning record last season under Evans in his fourth year at the helm, but with only one victory so far in the non-conference season, that feat will be hard to duplicate. Idaho State never threatened to earn its first victory over a Power 5 conference opponent in 30 years.Wisconsin: The Badgers held Idaho State to a season low in points, the eighth time in 10 games Wisconsin has done that to an opponent. The Badgers ranked 21st in the nation in scoring defense coming into the game.POLL IMPLICATIONSThis game likely wont register much with poll voters. The Badgers were expected to dominate an overmatched opponent, and they did. The game Saturday game against Marquette in Milwaukee might carry more weight.COLD AIRWisconsins Showalter and Vitto Brown each failed to draw rim on 3-point attempts, and Happ and Nigel Hayes both missed everything on a free throw. But Idaho States Geno Luzcando had the worst luck -- the junior guard lost control as he tried to shoot a 3 in front of the Wisconsin bench, and the ball went over his head out of bounds. On his next shot attempt, he launched an airball from almost the same spot.HE SAID ITIt was one of those days for Evans, the reigning Big Sky Conference coach of the year. He had one question when he entered the interview room and found a sports drink waiting for him at the table. First thing is, is this tequila, or is it something else? Because if its not tequila, Im not really interested, Evans said. I dont drink either, and Im about ready to try it.UP NEXTIdaho State: Hosts Bristol, a third-year California program that plays all its games on the road, to begin a stretch of four games in 11 days.Wisconsin: Will be tested by two in-state rivals, playing at Marquette on Saturday and hosting Wisconsin-Green Bay on Dec. 14, before a break for final exams.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. Jesus Molina Jersey . LUCIE, Fla. Raul Jimenez Jersey . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. http://www.soccermexicojerseysteamstore.com/rafael-marquez-mexico-jersey/ . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. Carlos Vela Jersey . LOUIS -- St. Custom Mexico Jerseys . PAUL, Minn. Matt Kenseth has some unfinished business at the Martinsville Speedway when he arrives at the Virginia track to start the penultimate round of the Chase.That unfinished business is to win a second Sprint Cup championship -- his first under the Chase format instead of the old season-long points battle.Never short on determination or talent, Kenseth has been trying to get back to champion status since 2003 when he and crew chief Robbie Reiser won the title with a lone victory at the Ford team owned by Jack Roush. It was not necessarily a happy occasion, since Kenseth and his crew chief were roundly criticized for stroking to the title by points racing.It was, in many respects, the birth of the Chase format, designed to make sure drivers push the accelerator to the max. Kenseth led only 354 laps in 36 races his championship season and this year has already led 717, which is slightly more than his career seasonal average of 693.Last year, Kenseth had some other unfinished business get in the way of his championship pursuit. The goal was to win the race and, as it turned out, beat front-running Joey Logano, the same driver who had rammed him out of the lead in the late stages two races earlier at the Kansas Speedway.The plan infamously went awry. Instead of beating Logano to the checkered flag, Kenseth ended up beating him into the Turn 3 wall after the Wisconsin driver tangled with Loganos Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski on a re-start and got fed up with the Ford duo. Kenseth and Keselowski had literally fought at Charlotte several weeks earlier.Kenseth, who was forced to the sideline by a suspension from NASCAR for his frontier justice, is focused on a victory to advance to the championship finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. By most accounts the feud with Team Penske is over -- although another skirmish in the tight confines of Martinsville could well rekindle it.For a driver with as such down-home Wisconsin attitude, Kenseth cant seem to get away from controversy at this time of year. He comes into Martinsville on the heels of another flare-up, somewhat similar to his championship season.Along with his fellow Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, Kenseth was a strumbo -- or an old-school points racer -- at last weeks race in Talladega, where the trio rode around in the back to avoid stealing points from fellow Chase aspirant Denny Hamlin.But as the NASCAR world turns, each race weekend brings a new perspective. The Round of 8 that starts at Martinsville sharpens every championship contenders focus on winning. A victory is the surest way to get to the finale in Homestead. Otherwise a driver needs a stellar points record -- which can easily go askew in the fender-banging at Martinsville.Before moving to JGR in 2013 from Roush-Fenway Racing, Kenseth had not fared well at Martinsville, which has not been kind to Fords in recent autumn events. Driving a Toyota and cribbing notes from his teammates, Kenseth has been more consistent at Martinsville under crew chief Jason Ratcliff, finishing sixth or better four times -- including his best ever finish of second in 2013.Its beeen a tough place for me for a lot of years, but the last four years since I got with Jason at JGR, weve been pretty competitive there, Kenseth said.dddddddddddd Its certainly one that Ive always wanted to go win. Weve come up short, weve had problems there -- things like that -- but typically we run good, so Im really looking forward to getting to Martinsville and hopefully we can perform well and get a good finish and kick off the next round in a positive way.One can imagine Kenseth enjoying the prospect of returning to Martinsville with racing on his mind rather than revenge or balloon-footing it like Talladega according to team strategy. Theres that unfinished business of finally winning a championship under not only the Chase format, but the elimination structure that was launched in 2014.Prior to Talladega, Kenseth, who had two victories in the regular season, was averaging a Top 5 finish in the first five Chase races. He knows the hill gets steeper as the field is winnowed down. Man, good race cars, good race car drivers, good teams, he said.One of those good cars belongs to Talladega winner Logano, who certainly has his own unfinished business at Martinsville. It remains to be seen if Keselowski, who was eliminated from the Chase last week, will run interference for his teammate on the short track where both Penske cars have run well.We got momentum, we have speed, said Logano, who said he learned a lot about his own confidence last year after winning three straight Chase races and then getting dumped by Kenseth.This year, Logano said he once again had three good cars in the Round of 12 and thats given his team momentum.We have a lot of confidence for that reason because we know we can do it, he said. We know we can go to these next couple races, theyre good racetracks for us, all three of them are. We just got to go out there and fight, do what we know how to do ... I think were better under pressure. Thats kind of our motto this year, we can fight under those situations. We know how to do that.As for JGR, since Hamlin -- an excellent short track driver -- advanced at Talladega, all four drivers are in the Round of 8 and theres little margin for team orders.Given that last years Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon returns as a substitute for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports, and that teammate Jimmie Johnson is the career leader at the track among active drivers with eight wins, the fight at the front should be furious.Former Martinsville winners Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, both Chevy drivers, are also in the Round of 8.Kenseth is still looking for his first career victory at Martinsville -- like Logano -- and will have his work cut out for him if hes going to get to that second championship. Say what one will about last weeks lack of racing, at least the Chase has one good ol short track on the schedule. In a setting where saving brakes might be a good idea, holding back on the accelerator or trying to protect ones fenders is a losing proposition. ' ' '