Here is the latest Big 12 Conference sports news from The Associated Press

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock has retired, ending a coaching career after four-plus decades. He announced his decision on Tuesday. Heacock was known for a 3-3-5 scheme with the Cyclones. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award that recognizes college football’s top assistant coach in 2017 and was nominated for it from 2022-25. He was a top assistant on Matt Campbell’s staff at Iowa State for 10 seasons and at Toledo for two seasons. Campbell left Iowa State earlier this month to lead Penn State’s program. Heacock was 60-44 as coach at Youngstown State from 2001 to 2009.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Themus Fulks had 24 points and 12 assists, Riley Kugel scored 18 points, and UCF rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Florida Atlantic 85-80 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. UCF (11-1) has won 10 games in a row. Jamichael Stillwell scored 15 points and Jordan Burks 14 for the Knights. John Bol had 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Xander Pintelon led FAU (8-4) with 20 points, and Kanaan Carlyle had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Isaiah Elohim scored in the paint to cut FAU’s deficit to 77-76 with 1:42 remaining, but Fulks answered with a basket before Kugel made two free throw and then threw down a dunk to push the lead to seven with 20 seconds left.

UNDATED (AP) — Jacob Rodriguez was sleeping on the floor of his brother’s apartment when he first got to Texas Tech as a walk-on in the spring of 2022. That was after a season as a quarterback at Virginia. The QB-turned-linebacker is now an AP All-American with a collection of trophies for national defensive player of the year awards. The fourth-ranked Red Raiders play No. 5 Oregon in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day. Rodriguez finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. He won the Bednarik and Nagurski awards as the top defensive player, and the Butkus as the top linebacker.

UNDATED (AP) — The week of Christmas is typically a slow time on the college basketball, with a handful of games before and after the holiday. This week is no different nine ranked teams playing, most against lower-tier programs. Once the weekend passes, the schedule heats up as conference seasons kick into full gear. The marquee game over the next two weeks will come on Jan. 2, when No. 2 Michigan hosts No. 24 Southern California. the Wolverines have won their last eight games by at least 15 points and the Trojans moved back into AP Top 25 this week. The upcoming schedule also includes No. 19 Tennessee at No. 18 Arkansas and No. 13 Nebraska at No. 9 Michigan State.

UNDATED (AP) — Krista Gerlich knows about success at Texas Tech, having starred there back when the team won the national championship in 1993 alongside Sheryl Swoopes. So getting the Lady Raiders ranked for the first time in 13 years on Monday was extra special to her. Texas Tech (14-0) is one of a dozen teams still unbeaten after the Lady Raiders beat then-No. 15 Baylor 61-60 on Sunday. It was the school’s first win over the Bears since 2011 and first win over a ranked team this season. That victory helped propel Texas Tech into the Top 25 for the first time since 2012.

UNDATED (AP) — Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson is The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the week for Week 7 of the season. The 6-foot-3 guard scored 23 of his 27 points in the second half and hit two free throws with 3.4 seconds left to cap Texas Tech’s rally from a 17-point deficit to beat No. 6 Duke 82-81 at Madison Square Garden. Anderson also converted a three-point play with 1:14 left to give the Red Raiders an 81-77 lead against the previously-undefeated Blue Devils. Anderson is Texas Tech’s second-leading scorer at 19.9 points per game and is averaging 7.2 assists with 3.4 rebounds.

UNDATED (AP) — The Associated Press national player of the week in women’s basketball for Week 7 is No. 10 Iowa State’s Audi Crooks. The junior center finished with 41 points, tying Lindsey Wilson for the most points scored by a Cyclone in a regular-season Big 12 game, in a win over Kansas. It was her fourth straight game with at least 30 points, becoming just the fifth player in the last 15 years to do so in women’s college basketball. Crooks is now the only player with multiple 40 point games this season. Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo was runner-up.

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