media poll that tapped Kingsley as the player of the year, the Razorbacks

SAO PAULO -- The return of Lionel Messi to an under-pressure Argentina team has finally paid off.After a lackluster performance last week against Brazil last week, the five-time FIFA player of the year winner inspired a 3-0 victory over Colombia for the South American World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday. He scored the first with a breathtaking free kick, gave two assists, dribbled through Colombias defense several times and coordinated his teammates on the pitch.Argentina is now in fifth position with 19 points after 12 games, with six games to go. Colombia dropped to sixth with 18 points.The first four in South American qualifiers have automatic qualifying positions for the next World Cup and the fifth will be in an international playoff for a spot.The home victory eased some of the pressure on coach Edgardo Bauza, who received the dreaded vote of support from Argentinas football association during the week.In Santiago, Alexis Sanchez scored twice after returning from injury to give Chile a 3-1 win over Uruguay. Chile is now fourth, with 20 points, and Uruguay remained second with 23.Leaders Brazil beat eighth place Peru 2-0 in Lima to move closer to securing a spot at Russia 2018. Teenage striker Gabriel Jesus, who will soon move to Manchester City, scored his fifth goal in six games for the five-time World Cup champions.Elsewhere, third-placed Ecuador beat bottom-of-the -group Venezuela 3-0 at home and now has 20 points. Venezuela was stuck on five.Ninth-placed Bolivia had a 1-0 victory over seventh place Paraguay and now has seven points. Paraguay is on 15.The 13th round of South American World Cup qualifiers will be played in March 2017.ARGENTINA 3-0 COLOMBIAMessi opened the score with a perfect free kick to the left of Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina, on 9 minutes.Only 13 minutes later, Messi managed to dribble through the Colombian defense and cross to striker Lucas Pratto, a contentious choice by coach Bauza ahead of Juventus targetman Gonzalo Higuain.Argentina could have scored many more goals in the second half, with Messi still leading the efforts. The third only came at 83 minutes after the Barcelona star began a play with a backheel kick. Seconds later he stole the ball from a Colombia defender, cut into the penalty area and put in a smooth low cross he found Angel Di Maria, who effortlessly scored.Colombias coach Jose Pekerman said his team clearly felt the absence of two key defenders: suspended Oscar Murillo and injured Yerry Mina.After the defeat against Brazil, Messi openly said he was disappointed with Argentinas performance, and used an expletive to say the team needed to improve to qualify for Russia 2018. On Tuesday, with an increased box-to-box awareness throughout the match, Messi led by example rather than words.Words were also in short supply after the game. On behalf of the whole team, Messi said no players would speak to the press, in response to a wave of criticism in Argentinian media.-----CHILE 3-1 URUGUAYUruguay scored first against Chile, through South American qualifiers top goalscorer Edinson Cavani, at 16 minutes.But Chile, the Copa America champions, responded to pull one of their best wins in the tournament so far. That was largely thanks to a superb performance by Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez, who returned from injury, scored a brace and is now just one goal short of Marcelo Salas as the top goalscorer ever for La Roja.The beginning of the turnaround began with striker Eduardo Vargas nodding a cross from the left to level the score in the dying moments of the first half. At 60 minutes Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera failed to save a powerful shot by Sanchez from the edge of the box. At 75, Sanchez scored again, in a smooth finish in front of Muslera.Uruguay had a chance to make it 3-2, but Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo stopped a penalty taken by striker Luis Suarez.Chile and Uruguay will each carry a major problem for their next match in South American qualifiers, which could be critical to both. Chile will not have midfielder Arturo Vidal against Argentina and Uruguay will miss Suarez against Brazil.-----PERU 0-2 BRAZILBrazil did not need to be at its best in securing a 2-0 victory over Peru in Lima; the sixth in a row for the leaders of the South American qualifiers under new coach Tite.After a lackluster first half, Brazil went ahead in the 57th minute when Perus defense gave the ball away inside the penalty box to 19-year-old Gabriel Jesus, who made an easy and calm finish.In the 77th minute, the Peruvian defense again was at fault, allowing Jesus to set up midfielder Renato Augusto for another simple finish.Brazil ends the year with 27 points, which was enough to qualify in other editions of the South American qualifiers. Only months ago it was lagging sixth under previous coach Dunga.Peru, who started dreaming of going to their first World Cup in 32 years after a 4-1 victory at Paraguay last week, will stay at eighth position with 14 points.Cheap Athletics Jerseys . Speaking to the Chicago Tribune at baseballs Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Boras called the former home of the Expos a "tremendous environment" for baseball. Custom Athletics Jerseys . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble. http://www.customathleticsjersey.com/custom-tony-phillips-jersey-large-75c.html . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Athletics Jerseys China . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Custom Tony Phillips Jersey . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said.MINNEAPOLIS -- Amir Coffey scored all 19 of his points in the second half, after Akeem Springs made three 3-pointers over the final 5 minutes of the first half to finish with 11 points and help Minnesota pull away for an 85-71 victory over Arkansas on Tuesday night.Nate Mason had 13 points and seven assists, Eric Curry made all eight of his free-throw attempts to score 12 points and Reggie Lynch and Jordan Murphy each added 10 points for the Gophers (5-0), who havent won five straight games to start a season in three years.Dusty Hannahs scored 20 points and Moses Kingsley had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Razorbacks (3-1), whose first road trip of the season was rough. They didnt make a 3-pointer until Hannahs hit one at the 4-minute mark and finished 1 for 8 after entering the game 24 for 54 from behind the arc (44.9 percent).Their 21 turnovers were their most since March 21, 2015, an NCAA tournament loss to North Carolina, and they had only six fast-break points after tallying 51 over the first three games. The Gophers had a 26-9 edge in points off turnovers.The freshman Coffey had 30 points on Friday against St. Johns and after a quiet first half got the crowd going with an array of fast-break dunks and slick layups plus a 3-pointer that gave the Gophers a 67-46 lead to match their largest of the game.The Gophers started slowly, but the Razorbacks missed nine of their first 10 shots from the floor and were outscored 25-6 over a stretch of more than 10 minutes. Springs swished two more 3-pointers after that run in the closing minutes of the first half, and the Gophers led by at least 14 points for the rest of the game.This was one of those games for the Gopherrs.dddddddddddd Mason hit the backboard with an errant baseline jumper, but grabbed his own rebound off the ricochet and fired an overhead pass to Ahmad Gilbert on the opposite wing for a 3-pointer and a 58-40 lead.HEY, WE PLAYED THEM TOOBoth Arkansas and Minnesota have already beaten Texas-Arlington, the team picked to win the Sun Belt Conference in a preseason coaches poll. The Gophers beat the Mavericks 84-67 on Nov. 14, holding a 47-32 rebounding advantage and outscoring them 49-26 in the second half. The Razorbacks edged UTA 71-67 on Friday after overcoming a 17-point deficit in the first half.BIG PICTUREArkansas: A team packed with upperclassmen picked to finish fifth in the preseason SEC media poll that tapped Kingsley as the player of the year, the Razorbacks will need to make some significant improvements before a Dec. 17 game against No. 22 Texas.Minnesota: With Springs, a senior and graduate transfer from Milwaukee, and Lynch, a junior and transfer from Illinois State who sat out last season per NCAA rule, the Gophers have injected an instant dose of experience in a team that finished 8-23 last season. Springs added three rebounds and three assists, and Lynch grabbed seven rebounds in 21 minutes.UP NEXTArkansas returns home on Monday to host Mount St. Marys, the first of five straight home games.Minnesota hosts Southern Illinois on Friday, before the first road game on Monday at Florida State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.---For more college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '