Musik » the night in their first true road game under Underwood before Mar

MADRID -- The Spanish league is off to a tight race atop the standings, with five teams separated by only three points. Yet, most of the talk entering the weekend is about whether Cristiano Ronaldo will end his scoring slump.Real Madrid leads the league ahead of its match at Alaves on Saturday, but not thanks to Ronaldos recent performances. The forward is enduring his worst start to a season since joining Madrid in 2009, having scored only four goals in nine matches.When youre used to scoring almost 70 goals a season, its almost like an addiction for goals, Madrid reserve forward Alvaro Morata said. For us, he is the most important player in the team and I hope that he scores lots of goals, but he is not a machine. He is a human being. Even if he comes from another planet and is different, he also has the right to miss.Ronaldo also scored five goals in two games with Portugal, against Andorra and the Faeroe Islands in World Cup qualifying, but thats no reprieve to the demanding Madrid fans.He was jeered by the crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium after another disappointing performance in a 2-1 win against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.The fans demand a lot of players, Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. The Bernabeu is special and we know it. Cristiano knows it and he is used to it. The important thing is to continue with our work.Ronaldo has scored only two goals in the Spanish league -- in a 5-2 win against Osasuna in September and a 6-1 rout at Real Betis two weeks ago. He also scored two goals in the Champions League, one in a 2-2 draw at Borussia Dortmund and one in a 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon, when his free-kick goal started a late rally.Of course he wants to score more, Madrid defender Marcelo said. He is a player who helps a lot and not only with goals, also with his work on the pitch.The game against Osasuna was the first of the season for Ronaldo. He hadnt played since injuring his left knee in the final of the European Championship, which Portugal won.Ronaldo seems fit and has had plenty of scoring chances, but has not been able to capitalize on them -- including on some he usually converts. Zidane says he is not worried and that its just a matter of time before he starts finding the net again.The 31-year-old was among the Madrid players rested in the teams 7-1 win over Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday. He is set to return to the lineup on Saturday, when Zidanes team tries to defend its Spanish league lead against promoted Alaves.Sevilla, one point behind Madrid, plays at Sporting Gijon on Saturday, while third-place Barcelona hosts last-place Granada in its 1,500th game at the Camp Nou. Contrary to Ronaldo, Barcelonas Lionel Messi is enjoying one of the best starts of his career with 14 goals in 11 matches. He has more goals than Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema combined.Fourth-place Villarreal plays at Eibar on Sunday, and fifth-place Atletico Madrid, which led the league entering the last round, hosts Malaga on Saturday.---Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tales-azzoni. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Online . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Fake Adidas NHL Jerseys . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. http://www.cheapnhlcustomjerseys.com/ . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Authentic . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Stitched NHL Jerseys . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland had another comeback in it Saturday night against Oklahoma State.Melo Trimble made two free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining to lift Maryland to a 71-70 victory after rallying from a 12-point deficit against the Cowboys.Trimble scored 13 points, and Jaylen Brantley and Damonte Dodd both added 12 points for the Terrapins (8-1).This group of mine, its amazing what they do, Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. We have all these young kids playing and we keep battling.Oklahoma States Jawun Evans missed an off-balance jumper in the closing seconds that would have given the Cowboys a victory.It was the fourth time this year Maryland has rallied from a deficit of at least nine points in the second half to win. The Terps also did so against Georgetown, Towson and Richmond.Its pretty much status quo for the Terps here --- fall behind, come back, Oklahoma State coach Brad Underwood said.Evans scored 16 points for Oklahoma State (6-2), while Jeffrey Carroll came off the bench to score 15 points and add 12 rebounds.Oklahoma State led 60-48 with 12 minutes to play, but Maryland uncorked a 13-0 run to tighten the game for the closing minutes.We kept coming, Turgeon said. I think everybody on our team knew we were going to win the game once we cut it down.The Cowboys, who entered the night as the nations No. 2 scoring team, was held to a season-low in points largely because it sputtered in the final 10 minutes.We had a couple good looks and missed a couple putbacks, but more importantly, Maryland got very aggressive on the offensive end, Underwood said. They got second shots and other opportunities. For the most part, that stretch of the game was the deciding factor.Neither team did a good job of taking care of the ball. Oklahomma State was effective in disrupting the Terps early and forced 18 turnovers, but managed only six points off those miscues.dddddddddddd Maryland scored 20 points off 15 Cowboy turnovers.That was enough to put the Terps in position to claim yet another tight victory.Hopefully we make it to the tournament down the road because in those type of games, the further you get, the closer they are, Trimble said. Im glad were going through this now and hopefully well still be as good as we are now later.BIG PICTUREOklahoma State: The Cowboys played well for much of the night in their first true road game under Underwood before Maryland rallied. Oklahoma State has two more key nonconference road tests this month at Tulsa and Wichita State.Maryland: The Terrapins earned a split in what set up to be the toughest week of their nonconference schedule. Maryland fell 73-59 to Pittsburgh on Tuesday before bouncing back against Oklahoma State.ROLE PLAYERBrantley played a career-high 22 minutes and was on the floor for the Terps entire 13-0 run that erased Oklahoma States lead. We had no chance without him tonight, Turgeon said.INJURIESMaryland was without sophomore forward Ivan Bender, who has a bone bruise in his left knee. Bender is averaging 4.1 points and 3.3 rebounds and played in the Terps first eight games.UP NEXTOklahoma State heads back on the road when it comes out of final exams Dec. 10 and visits Tulsa. The Cowboys will try to avenge last years 66-56 loss to the Golden Hurricane.Maryland continues its five-game homestand when Howard visits on Wednesday. It will be the Terps first meeting with the nearby Bison since 1996. ' ' '