NEW ORLEANS - The Toronto Raptors were without Jonas Valanciunas on Wednesday for their game in New Orleans against the Pelicans. Valanciunas, who left Tuesdays loss to the Hawks late in the third quarter with a lower back sprain, missed his first game of the season. Head coach Dwane Casey announced the news an hour and a half prior to tip-off. "His back is still tight," Casey said. "[He] wasnt able to get it loose. (Director of Sports Science) Alex (McKechnie) put him through some preliminary work and it still was tight so hes going to be out." Valanciunas sustained the injury turning to set a screen, feeling immediate pain in his lower back before McKechnie and the Raptors training staff made the call to pull him from the game. After navigating through a mini-slump to close the month of February, the Raptors sophomore centre had been playing some of his best basketball of the season over the past week. Getting off to hot starts in each of his last three games, Valanciunas has totalled 34 points on 14-of-20 shooting in the first quarter of those contests. The Raptors were already undermanned in the frontcourt, missing Patrick Patterson for a seventh straight game Wednesday. He is expected to be out at least another week resting an elbow injury. Tyler Hansbrough started in place of Valanciunas. Both he and Chuck Hayes will see increased playing time as long as the teams starting centre in sidelined. Amir Johnson also played against the Pelicans after tweaking a lingering right ankle injury at the end of regulation in Tuesdays overtime loss. "Weve been very fortunate not to have that many injuries up until this part of the season," said Casey. "A lot of teams had them earlier and its unfortunate were hitting them now but its part of the NBA. Now weve got to adjust to it and make hay from it." Valanciunas is considered day-to-day. Nike Air Max 2020 Canada . The Redblacks are taking on the Edmonton Eskimos in their second regular season game Friday night. Catch the game live on TSN as the back end of a doubleheader starting at 10pm et/7pm pt. Air Max 1 Sale Canada . Head coach Randy Carlyle confirmed the news after the Leafs morning skate on Monday. Kozun was hurt during Friday nights home game against the Red Wings and did not make the return trip to Detroit for Saturdays game. http://www.clearanceairmaxcanada.com/air...anada-sale.html. "Its not done, but its a huge step," Hannover general manager Dirk Dufner said. Poor defending allowed the visitors to score in the second minute, when Leon Andreasens header from Christian Panders cross sent the ball inside the far post. Air Max Tavas Canada . The 18-year-old Januzaj has made his breakthrough at United this season, including scoring twice in a 2-1 win over Sunderland before the recent international break. His performances have sparked a debate about where his international future lies. Air Max 180 Canada . The team of Lars Nelson, Daniel Richardsson, Johan Olsson, and anchor Marcus Hellner cruised to victory in the 4x10 km event, winning in a time of one hour, 28 minutes, and 42.Lawrence, KS (SportsNetwork.com) - Andrew Wiggins and the second-ranked Kansas Jayhawks will begin the Battle 4 Atlantis on Friday night, as they entertain the Towson Tigers at Allen Fieldhouse. You can watch the game on TSN2 at 9:30pm et/6:30pm pt. This is a preliminary event before the Jayhawks travel to Paradise Island, Bahamas next week to continue in the event. Towson was one of the better teams in the Colonial Athletic Association a season ago, and it has set a similar tone in the early going this season with a 3-1 start. After three straight wins at home, however, Towson ventured on the road for the first time last Sunday and was trounced by Villanova, 78-44. Kansas has been on top of its game under head coach Bill Self, as it has won nine consecutive regular-season Big 12 Conference championships and has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament in six of the last seven years. The Jayhawks have another elite unit this season, as they have shown with wins over ULM (80-63), Duke (94-83) and Iona (86-66). Kansas won both previous matchups versus Towson, most recently claiming a 100-54 win at home on Nov. 11, 2011. In the Tigers latest outing, Villanova streaked out to an 18-4 lead less than eight minutes in and they could never recover and they shot a dreadful 30.9 percent from the field (including 2-of-17 from 3-point range) in the 34-point blowout loss. It was a lost afternoon for much of the roster, although Jerrelle Benimon managed to make the most of it with 11 points and six rebounds. Despite thhat awful performance, Towson still has respectable offensive numbers, as it shoots 42 percent from the field for 71.dddddddddddd5 points per game, nearly five points more than it allows. Benimon is one of the CAAs best players and he has proven in the early going with 17.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Rafriel Guthrie (11.3 ppg) and Marcus Damas (10.7 ppg) are solid complimentary scoring options. The Jayhawks had no trouble running past Iona earlier in the week, as they outshot the Gaels from the floor, 56.9 percent to 38.6 percent, and dominated the rebounding battle (40-26) en route to the 20-point victory. Freshman sensation Andrew Wiggins has made headlines in the early going, and he had another strong game with 13 points and seven rebounds, but it was fellow first-year player Joel Embiid who dominated in the win, tallying 16 points (on 7-of-7 from the field) and 13 rebounds off the bench. Perry Ellis led the way with 21 points, while Naadir Tharpe got his teammates involved with 10 assists. KUs deep, well-rounded squad has paid dividends thus far, as it has scored 86.7 points per game on an outstanding .557 field goal percentage. Ellis (19.0 ppg) has been red-hot from the floor at 21-of-29 and also rips down 8.0 boards per contest. Wiggins (17.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg) highly-anticipated season has started as expected. Wayne Selden, Jr. (10.0 ppg) is the only other player in double figures, but Embiid (9.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and Tharpe (6.0 ppg, 7.5 apg) are integral pieces to the puzzle as well. ' ' '