SALT LAKE CITY - Sporting a Seahawks cap during afternoon shootaround, coach Dwane Casey reinforced a sentiment hes preached over and over again since coming to Toronto. "Relentless defence wins in any sport," he said after watching the hard-hitting, opportunistic Seahawks stymie the Broncos and their high-octane offence. Casey didnt have to say much as he and his team watched Seattles dominant Super Bowl victory from their Salt Lake City hotel Sunday night. The message had already been engrained into the mindset of his players and stuck with them in Utah the following evening. "We cant control if our shots go in, we cant make every shot but we can control when we play hard on the defensive end," DeMar DeRozan said after holding Utah to 41 per cent shooting in a 94-79 win over the Jazz Monday. "Were understanding that more and more every game." Again, the Raptors got off to a slow start on the defensive end, something that plagued them in Portland Saturday as their comeback bid eventually fell short. The Jazz shot 50 per cent and scored 27 points, closing out the opening quarter with a three-point lead before Toronto tightened the screws in the second frame. Utah scored just 17 points in the second quarter, shooting 35 per cent from the field, 0-of-7 from three-point range and was held without a single assist. The Jazz didnt score more than 18 points in any quarter after the first. "Thats an issue with our team," Casey said before the game. "For whatever reason we turn up the intensity after halftime. I dont know if they like hearing me go ballistic at halftime." "Its one of our unfortunate traits, I would say, but again well take [the win]." The Raptors resiliency was tested again as Kyle Lowry - fresh off being named Eastern Conference Player of the Month - left for the locker room late in the third quarter to get treatment on a sore right knee. Lowry has been the teams most consistent contributor but seemed off his game, shooting 1-for-8 in 25 minutes before he was ruled out for the fourth quarter. The good news is the injury doesnt appear to be a serious one. Lowry has been battling soreness in the knee for about a week, playing through it and playing well, but on Monday he couldnt get it loose. "I couldnt help my team as much as I wanted to," said Lowry, who expects to play in Sacramento on Wednesday. "I trust my teammates would get the job done and thats what they did tonight." Torontos depth and team chemistry came through with Lowry on the sideline. Greivis Vasquez, who returned from a bout of the flu, stepped in at the point and scored 12 off the bench. Amir Johnson - playing on a sore right ankle - looked better, recording a double-double. Jonas Valanciunas had one of his better games in a tough matchup against Enes Kanter and John Salmons chipped in with 13 off the bench. As it has been when one Raptor struggles or gets hurt, the next man steps up. "Thats what it is, I think were playing for each other," Vasquez said. "I want Kyle to get healthy, I want the best for each and every one of us so thats important, man. When you have a team that has such a great atmosphere in the locker room, that care about each other, its going to be scary." Most importantly, it was the defensive effort that carried them to their sixth win over the last eight games. Casey preaches it every day and his troops have all bought in. Theyve seen how far it can take them. "The good thing about it is our players were talking about it last night watching the [Super Bowl]," said the Raptors coach. "Our guys were talking about how [the Seahawks] were hitting people and thats what Ive been preaching and am preaching, hit first." "Basketball-wise, its a little bit different but you can be aggressive for 48 minutes, take away options, take away passing lanes, bump cutters, box out [and] hit people coming for rebounds." Casey, an assistant with the Sonics for 11 years, resides in Seattle during the offseason and was invited to visit the Seahawks training camp a couple summers ago, where he - along with Blazers coach and good friend Terry Stotts - got the opportunity to watch Pete Carroll at work. The takeaway for Casey was to fully embrace and stay true to his philosophy as a head coach. "[Carroll is] a guy thats comfortable in his skin and Im at that point in my career too," he said. "In his first couple of tries he tried to do it the way the organization wanted to do it and he was trying to please everybody. I think you have to coach to your personality and to the personality of your team and thats what he conveyed to [Stotts] and I when we met with him" That philosophy - defence first, second and third - has been hammered home since day one and the results are beginning to reflect it. Entering Mondays games the Raptors ranked sixth in defensive efficiency, just behind the leagues heavy hitters (Indiana, Chicago, Golden State, Oklahoma City and San Antonio). On Monday they surrendered just 79 points, matching the second lowest total theyve given up all year. "I dont care who is playing, when you play the Utah Jazz, its a brand of basketball thats very difficult," Casey said. "Youre going to have to grind it out, youre going to have to earn every inch, every yard in this place and we did tonight." "The rest of the way, before the [All-Star] break, were going to have to grind it out mentally and physically," he continued. "Thats how its going to be because people are going to come out throwing haymakers at us and weve got to be physically and mentally prepared for it." On the season, theyre now 22-6 when holding teams under 100 points. Theyre 20-4 when opponents shoot below 45 per cent. Adbert Alzolay Jersey . - Doug Kalitta led Top Fuel qualifying Friday in the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway with a 3. Koji Uehara Cubs Jersey .com Tour title, closing with a 6-under 64 for a four-stroke victory. The 22-year-old former North Texas player finished at 12-under 268 at Panama Golf Club and earned $112,500 to jump from seventh to second on the money list with $171,500. https://www.cheapcubs.com/1660t-brandon-...ersey-cubs.html. "Youre next." Hardly. Iguodala tormented his former team with a game better than any he ever played in eight seasons with the 76ers. Nicholas Castellanos Jersey . Helwani said that Weidman has been dealing with recurring swelling and pain in his knees related to torn meniscus he suffered as a teenager and the problems came to a head last week when he suffered prolonged swelling and pain in his left knee, resulting in the decision to undergo an arthroscopic scope procedure to clean up the tear in both knees. Mickey Morandini Jersey ." Those traits were clear to the 24,071 at Olympic Stadium on Saturday as the Impact dominated the scoring chances but settled for a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls in a battle of still-winless Major League Soccer teams.ARLINGTON, Texas - Ohio State was done when Braxton Miller got hurt in August.Ohio State was done when it lost at home to Virginia Tech in September.Ohio State was done when J.T. Barrett got hurt in November.A funny thing happened: Every time the Buckeyes looked done, they kept getting better. And in the new era of college football, that was enough to earn a chance to win a championship.They took advantage of an opportunity they never would have had in the BCS, shrugging off questions about if they belonged among the college footballs final four. Cardale Jones, Ezekiel Elliott and the Buckeyes won the first College Football Playoff national championship, upsetting Marcus Mariota and Oregon 42-20 on Monday night.Behind their bullish backup quarterback Jones and the relentless running of Elliott, the Buckeyes (14-1) completed a remarkable in-season turnaround with a dominating performance against the Ducks (13-2).Late August, around camp, everybody counted us out when our Heisman Trophy quarterback went down, and then when the first college football playoff rankings came out we was like No. 16 or 17, Jones said. Long story short, we werent supposed to here.Ohio State began the first major college football playoff as the fourth and final seed, and was an underdog against both top-seeded Alabama and second-seeded Oregon. Plenty of people thought TCU or Baylor should have had the Buckeyes spot.No question about it now: Ohio State is the truest champion big-time football has ever crowned, showered by golden confetti as its band played the schools unofficial anthem, Hang on Sloopy, after the clock hit 0:00.This will go down as one of the great stories in college football history, coach Urban Meyer said.The Buckeyes overcame two injured Heisman contenders and one awful 35-21 loss to Virginia Tech to win their first national title since the 2002 BCS championship. In the BCS, the early slip to the Hokies could have pretty much eliminated the Buckeyes for the championship race.Before the BCSs 16-year stint, it was up to The Associated Press and coaches polls to sort out which team was best, with a little help from the bowls. The Buckeyes have three of those championships, too.Now they can add college footballs newest championship trophy to the display cases at Woody Hayes Athletic Center back in Columbus.Meyer now has three titles, adding this one for his home state team to the two he won for Florida. He matches Alabamas Nick Saban as the only coaches to win national championship at two schools. Its taken just three seasons for Meyer to put the Buckeyes — and the Big Ten — back on top, with a team that looks built to last.Elliott, a sophomore, was the offensive MVP and ran for 246 yards and four touchddowns on a career-high 36 carries.dddddddddddd In the last three games — the Big Ten championship against Wisconsin, the Sugar Bowl semifinal against Alabama and the final against Oregon — Elliott had 696 yards rushing.With all the stuff we went through to get here, its just crazy, Elliott said. It doesnt feel real.Jones, who took over in the Michigan game for the injured Barrett (who had taken over at the start of the season for the injured Miller), passed for 242 yards and a touchdown and ran for score in his third career start. The 250-pound third-year sophomore proved he could keep up with Mariota — at least on this night.Mariota passed for 333 yards and two touchdowns, but the Ducks warp-speed spread offence missed too many red-zone opportunities and couldnt unleash its running game against linebacker Darron Lee and an Ohio State front seven stacked with future NFL draft picks.We fought through a lot of stuff, Mariota said. We ended up short tonight, but that shouldnt take away from what we were able to do this year.Even with the benefit of four Ohio State turnovers, the Ducks were held to their lowest point total of the season, four touchdowns below their average coming in. They went 2 for 12 on third downs, with two killed dropped passes in the first half.Their front seven is unbelievable, Oregon receiver Byron Marshall said. I think we missed some opportunities, and they played a great game.Oregon has done just about everything as it has blossomed into a national power over the last two decades, but it will likely continue the search for its first national championship without Mariota. Barring a major surprise, the junior is likely to turn pro — though he wouldnt talk about his upcoming draft decision after the game.Elliott scored the games last three touchdowns, finishing off the rout with a 1-yarder with 28 seconds left.While Elliott slipped and darted through the Ducks, Jones pushed them around and shook them off.When Jones surged and spun his way into the end zone with 4:49 left in the second quarter it was 21-7 Ohio State and the O! H! I! O! chant made the dome in North Texas sound like the horseshoe in Columbus. The Ducks were facing their largest deficit of the season.If there was any concern that fans wouldnt travel to the championship game in the new post-season system, the packed house at the home of the Dallas Cowboys, awash in Buckeyes scarlet and Ducks yellow, put that to rest. The crowd of 85,689 was as charged as any BCS national championship game.But by the time Elliott went in from 2 yards out with 9:44 left in the fourth to make it 35-20 it was clear this night had turned into a Buckeyes Bash.___Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/RalphDrussoAP ' ' '