Illini no match for #2(and perhaps soon to be #1)Michigan at Assembley Hall

CHAMPAIGN—Possible No. 1 ranking? Yeah, that’s nice, Michigan’s Trey Burke said Sunday outside the locker room at Illinois’ Assembly Hall.But after the win that should give the No. 2 Wolverines their first top ranking since the 1992-93 season, the sophomore guard wanted to talk defense and what a team does when one of its big, defensive rocks goes down.If you’re Michigan (19-1, 6-1 Big Ten), you plug in a couple of other big guys. And you win — in this case 74-60 over the Illini, most of it without 6-foot-8, 250-pound Jordan Morgan. The starting forward limped to the locker room less than two minutes into the game with a sprained right ankle and didn’t come back.

“Coach (John Beilein) calls him the minister of defense,” Burke said, crediting the Mitch McGary, John Horford and Max Bielfeldt, the three big men who picked up the slack.I say this every game,” Burke added, “but it just starts with defense. I think that started in the first half.”

And that No. 1 ranking, which will likely be Michigan’s after Duke’s lopsided loss to Miami earlier in the week opened the door when the AP poll comes out Monday, doesn’t mean much yet, Beilein was quick to remind.

“You compete for a Big Ten championship, then you go on you compete for a national championship,” he said. “That’s the number one you want down the line.”

Illinois (15-6, 2-5) and first-year coach John Groce, whose team has been doomed by cold shooting since mid-December and shot 37.1 percent Sunday, could do little but marvel at the Wolverines.

“I give Michigan a lot of credit,” Groce said. “You make one mistake and they exploit it like that.”

Burke scored 19 to lead Michigan. Nick Stauskas scored 14 points and Glenn Robinson III and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 12 each.Brandon Paul led Illinois with 15 points but had five of the Illini’s 15 costly turnovers.Beilein said he didn’t yet know the severity of Morgan’s sprained right ankle but said he couldn’t have returned to the game even if baldy needed.The Wolverines hardly missed him — they seemed to have an answer for everything Illinois offered.The Illini fought back to within seven points with just over nine minutes to play when a Richardson steal set up Joseph Bertrand for a soft jump shot that floated into the bucket.The wave of noise that rose from the crowd trying to will the Illini back into the game didn’t last long.First, with 8:40 to play, Mitch McGary pulled down the rebound off a miss by Burke and dropped the ball into the bucket.Then Burke scooped the ball up off a Paul turnover at the other end and, with a dunk, put the Wolverines back up by 11 at 59-48. With 8:21 to play and shooting just 37.1 percent on the night, Illinois couldn’t find a way back.Morgan appeared to roll his right ankle as he came down under the Wolverine basket, but Michigan lost little if anything inside without the 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward.McGary, Bielfeldt — a redshirt freshman with strong ties to Illinois — and Horford picked up most of Morgan’s minutes, and his slack.McGary, a 6-10, 250-pound forward, hasn’t started a game this season but averages 16 minutes a night anyway. Bielfeldt, though, plays less than six minutes a night, and was all nerves in his first minutes on the court. The 6-7, 245-pound forward badly missed his first free throw, at least a foot right of the basket, and the crowd, well aware that the athletic administration building on the Illinois campus bears his big-donor family’s name, let him have it.So did his teammates, Beilein said.

“It was not a great initial debut with the air ball. That’s one of the first things we made fun of,” the coach said. “All his teammates were on him in the locker room.”

But with another chance at the line minutes later, Bielfeldt sank both shots, finishing with four points in six minutes.Horford had seven points and five boards in 17 minutes while McGary had six points and eight rebounds.

“It gave three guys the opportunity to play that (don’t) get as much as they like,” Beilein said of Morgan’s injury. “I’m really impressed with the big guys and how they stepped up there.”

Illinois’ big-man combination of Nanna Egwu, Sam McLaurin and Tyler Griffey wasn’t much of a match for them. The Wolverines scored 42 points in the paint.

Hawks tie record for best start ever(5-0)with 3-2 win over Jackets

COLUMBUS—Jonathan Toews scored the game-winner early in the third period and Corey Crawford had 24 saves to help the Blackhawks match the best start in franchise history with a 3-2 victory Saturday night over the Columbus Blue Jackets, running their record to 5-0-0.The only other time the Blackhawks began a season 5-0-0 was 1971-72 which was Bobby Hull’s final season with the Hawks before he signed with the WHA Winnipeg Jets.Patrick Kane had two assists for the Blackhawks, who have a 40-23-7 record all-time against the Blue Jackets. Crawford, who won for the fourth time this season, was solid all night but particularly when the Blackhawks were a man down.Steve Mason held his own with 21 saves for the Blue Jackets, who lost their third in a row. A goal by Derick Brassard was waved off in the second period when the officials ruled Nick Foligno interfered with Crawford. That decision caused a sellout crowd of 18,381 to boo throughout the game.Mark Letestu gave Columbus a 1-0 lead and Artem Anisimov scored late to make it interesting for the Blue Jackets, who have been outscored 12-3 in their losing skid.The Hawks killed all five penalties and was also 0 for 3 on the power play.Toews, off of Kane’s second assist of the night, scored a big goal to put the Blackhawks up two goals 6:35 into the third after a turnover in their own zone. Letestu’s pass was deflected by Marian Hossa with Kane retrieving it. He fired a blind, quick pass to Toews who was all alone behind the defense. Toews faked left, then right, before flipping the puck past Mason for his third of the year and a 3-1 lead.Anisimov backhanded in Brandon Dubinsky’s wraparound attempt with 2:19 left in regulation, but the Blue Jackets could not get the equalizer.With the score tied after a period, the Blackhawks picked up a goal at the 8:50 mark of the second.Near the boards at the right corner of the blue line, Niklas Hjalmarsson’s hard, low drive into heavy traffic in front of the net was redirected by Bickell.Columbus thought it had tied it moments later but the goal was disallowed, enflaming a capacity crowd.On the power play after Jamal Mayers went to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct, Brassard’s slap shot from the point beat Crawford. But referee Dan O’Rourke almost immediately waved off the goal. Replays showed Nick Foligno’s right skate was in the crease, although there was no apparent contact between him and Crawford.Between periods, Foligno said O’Rourke told him that the goal was disallowed because “I had bumped him and didn’t give him time to reset.” The crowd booed lustily at every opportunity the rest of the night.The Blue Jackets, who were shut out in their previous game 4-0 at Colorado on Thursday night, scored first while dominating the first 15 minutes.While swarming the net, Foligno’s shot was stopped by Crawford but the rebound caromed out to Letestu, who had been stymied by Crawford earlier in the sequence. This time Letestu slid the puck between the skates of Bolland and then through Crawford for his first goal of the season.Outshot 6-0 and 9-2 early, the Blackhawks countered.Columbus defenseman Fedor Tyutin got caught pinching in on offense and the puck ended up on the stick of Kane in the neutral zone with no Blue Jackets in front of him. The Blue Jackets’ Ryan Johansen lost his stick trying to stop Kane’s momentum, with Kane crashing into Mason who made the save. But while Mason was sprawled in the crease Bolland pounced on the puck and lifted it high over Mason and into the net for his third this season.

NOTES—The Blackhawks went 6-0-0 against the Blue Jackets last season and are 20-12-4 all-time at Nationwide Arena. … The Blackhawks improved to 4-0-0 on the road this season. … The Blue Jackets were without RW Cam Atkinson, who suffered a lower-body injury in camp. He may be out at least a week. … Hossa has 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 29 career games against Columbus while Kane has 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) and Toews 33 (14 goals, 20 assists) in 31 games against the Blue Jackets.

Bulls fall to another bad opponent, skunked by Wizards

Chicago Bulls Logo - Red bull with script above head

WASHINGTON—OK, after losing this season to the Bobcats,Suns,Hornets, now it’s Washington! Emeka Okafor had 15 points and 16 rebounds, helping the surging Wizards beat the Bulls 86-73 on Saturday night.John Wall and Nene each scored 16 points for Washington, which has won consecutive games for the second time this season. The Wizards have won five straight at home for the first time in five years, and seven of 10 overall.It’s a marked improvement from the start of the season, when Washington (11-31) dropped 28 of its first 32 games.The Bulls had won a season-high three in a row for the third time.Nate Robinson scored 19 points for the Bulls, and Joakim Noah narrowly missed a triple-double with nine points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, which equaled his career high.The Wizards outscored the Bulls 23-11 in the third quarter to take a 73-55 lead. The 11 points were a season low for the Bulls who had twice as many turnovers (six) as field goals (three) in the period.The Wizards put together an 11-0 run late in the second quarter, holding the Bulls scoreless for nearly five minutes while building a 50-44 halftime lead. Washington outscored the Bulls 10-2 to start the third and led 60-46 with 8:58 to play.That was pretty much the game. Nene hit two more field goals and two free throws as the Wizards extended the lead to 69-51 with 4:28 left in the third.

NOTES—Within a minute in the third quarter, Carlos Boozer was charged with a flagrant foul for elbowing Okafor and a technical foul. …Luol Deng missed his fifth straight game with a strained right hamstring. He warmed up before the game. … The game was a sellout – the third of the season for Washington. … The Wizards trailed after the first quarter for the first time in their last eight home games.

Pitt slaughter’s Demons who’s woes in Big East continue(Lost 72 of last 78)

PITTSBURGH—Trey Zeigler scored a season-high 18 points and Pittsburgh crushed DePaul 93-55 on Saturday night for its fourth straight victory.Lamar Patterson added 15 points, Steven Adams added nine points and a season-high 14 rebounds for the Panthers (17-4, 5-3 Big East), who climbed into a tie for third in the muddled Big East after dominating the reeling Blue Demons.The 38-point margin of victory was the highest ever by Pitt in a Big East game, eclipsing a 36-point romp over West Virginia in 2003.Brandon Young led DePaul (10-9, 1-5) with 13 points and Moses Morgan chipped in 11, but the Blue Demons were never in it while losing for the sixth time in seven games. DePaul shot just 27 percent (18 of 65) and was outrebounded 58-34 while suffering its worst loss in nearly two years.Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was concerned about how his team would handle DePaul’s full-court pressure and early on the Blue Demons were able to rattle the Panthers into uncharacteristic mistakes. Pitt came in leading the country in assist/turnover ratio but threw it away six times in the first 10 minutes.That allowed DePaul to hang around, but only for a bit. Once the Panthers settled down, they were able to get wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Woodall and Patterson led a 23-5 push midway through the first half to take control.The Blue Demons simply couldn’t keep up. If they weren’t missing shots – DePaul went just 9 of 33 (27 percent) from the floor in the first half – then they were giving the ball away in transition or getting dominated on the glass.Pitt’s size and ability to stay under control once it got comfortable playing at the up-tempo pace the Blue Demons prefer eventually made DePaul’s defense ineffective.The result was a 53-30 halftime lead, the Panthers’ highest scoring half of the season. The 23-point edge tied for the second-largest halftime advantage ever by the Panthers against a Big East rival, a record that would have been broken if Morgan hadn’t hit a high arcing 3-pointer over the outstretched arms of the 7-foot Adams at the horn.While Pitt has struggled at times putting two solid halves together this season, there were no such issues against the overmatched Blue Demons. Pitt scored three quick buckets to open the second half.The mismatch allowed Dixon to experiment with his lineup in the second half. Pitt’s bench actually outscored its starters 52-41, with Zeigler leading the way. The junior transfer from Central Michigan is starting to settle into his new role coming off the bench. He knocked down 7 of 12 shots and added five rebounds, including four on the offensive glass.

NOTES—The Blue Demons should be thrilled when they leave the Big East with five other Schools.DePaul fell to 6-72 in Big East games since 2008-09!

Two legacies help Titans get past Ramblers 75-63

Juwan Howard Jr. and Ray McCallum each scored 17 points on Saturday, leading Detroit to a 75-63 victory over Loyola.Howard connected on 8 of 10 shots from the floor, allowing Detroit (13-8, 5-3 Horizon) to shoot 50 percent from the floor.Nick Minnerath scored 14 points for Detroit. Jason Calliste scored 12 points and Doug Anderson scored 11.Loyola (12-8, 2-5) had a 27-24 lead at halftime, but couldn’t pull away or at least maintain its narrow advantage. It was its own worst enemy at times, committing 17 turnovers.Christian Thomas led the Ramblers with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Cully Payne scored 15 points and Ben Averkamp had 13.

NIU sets records(in a bad way)in embarressing loss at Eastern Michigan

YPSILANTI—Northern Illinois broke its own NCAA Division I record for futility, scoring just four points in the first half of a 42-25 loss to Eastern Michigan on Saturday.The Huskies (4-14, 2-4 Mid-American) also broke the record for lowest field goal percentage in a half of the shot clock era (3.2 percent) and lowest field goal percentage in a game (13.1 percent), and tied the mark for fewest made field goals in a half after hitting 1 of 31 attempts in the opening period. Abdel Bader scored on a fast break one minute into the game to put Northern Illinois up 2-0 for its only bucket of the half, and followed that with 29 straight misses.

“Our guys played hard,” Huskies coach Mark Montgomery said. “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t make a shot. We just needed someone to make a basket to get our team going, but I wouldn’t say that we were taking bad shots. We had makeable, open shots, they just wouldn’t go in, but our guys kept defending, kept playing hard.”

Savannah State had held the record of 4.3 percent shooting in the first half against Kansas State on Jan. 7, 2008, a game in which it also made just one field goal in the half. Miami of Ohio held the previous record for lowest field goal percentage for a game in the modern era with 13.3 percent against Dayton on Dec. 29, 2001.NIU, which features a lineup of mostly freshmen and sophomores, earlier this season set the record for fewest points in a first half with five against Dayton on Dec. 1.Glenn Bryant led Eastern Michigan (10-10, 3-3) with 10 points. The Eagles led 18-4 at the half – the fewest combined points in a half since North Carolina Central (13) and Savannah State (5) combined for 18 in the first half a game on Jan. 20, 2010.Daveon Balls hit a 3-pointer for the Huskies with 2:05 remaining to make the score 37-22, helping them avoid the record for fewest points in a game (20 by Saint Louis on Jan. 10, 2008 vs. George Washington) in the shot clock era. It was also Northern Illinois’ only 3-pointer in 33 attempts, which kept them from breaking the record for most 3-pointers attempted (24) without a make.

“It becomes contagious, both making shots and missing shots,” Montgomery said. “At 18-4, if we come out and make a couple of baskets we would have been right back in it … but it just didn’t happen.”

NU has let down at Nebraska, falls 64-49

LINCOLN—Dylan Talley scored 20 points and Ray Gallegos broke out of his 3-point shooting slump in the second half to lead Nebraska to a 64-49 victory over Northwestern on Saturday.The Cornhuskers (11-10, 2-6 Big Ten) won for the first time in four conference home games.Brandon Ubel had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Gallegos added 11 points.Dave Sobolewski matched his season high with 21 points and Jared Swopshire had 11 to pace the Wildcats (12-9, 3-5), who were coming off a seven-point win over No. 12 Minnesota.Did NU let down after beating ranked teams in two of their last three outings,and then facing a bottom feeder like the Huskers? Guess so. Ubel made two free throws and converted Gallegos’ pass through the lane into a dunk at the front end of a 16-7 spurt that gave Nebraska a double-digit lead in the middle of the second half. Gallegos followed Shavon Shields’ three-point play with three straight 3s to make it 44-33.

Bulls run roughshot over Golden State 103-87,and hammer them on the boards.

Chicago Bulls Logo - Red bull with script above head

Kirk Hinrich scored a season-high 25 points, hitting six of seven three-pointers in the Bulls’ 103-87 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. Nate Robinson added 22 points off the bench in the Bulls’ third straight victory.David Lee, the Warriors’ All-Star selection, scored 23 points. Stephen Curry added 21 for Golden State, which shot 34.6 percent from the field to snap a three-game winning streak.Jimmy Butler had 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds starting in place of Luol Deng, who missed his fourth consecutive game due to a right hamstring injury.

Hossa finishes Hawk OT Comeback for 4-0 start.

DALLAS—The Blackhawks are getting strong play from their best players – and that’s a big reason they are 4-0.Marian Hossa scored his NHL-leading fifth goal on a power play 1:41 into overtime to give the Hawks a 3-2 comeback victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews tied the score late in the third period, and Patrick Sharp had a goal and two assists. Patrick Kane added two assists, including a dazzling pass on Hossa’s game-winner, to extend his scoring streak to four games (two goals, five assists).

“First really big test coming from behind and I think we didn’t quit,” Hossa said. “Huge goal by Toews at the end kept us in the game.”

The Blackhawks, who matched the franchise’s best start set during the 1972-73 season, overcame a 2-0 second-period deficit. Corey Crawford made 21 saves and stopped Ryan Garbutt on a penalty shot.

“We just kept sticking to the same play, kept going, and our guys did a great job not getting frustrated,” Crawford said. “All the missed opportunities or big saves sometimes gets to you. But tonight was great. We got some big goals and an amazing play by Kaner at the end there.”

With Dallas captain Brenden Morrow in the penalty box for interference, Hossa fired a one-timer from the slot past goalie Kari Lehtonen after receiving a nifty, behind-the-back pass from Kane.

“We’ll talk about that one for a long time, like he had eyes behind his head,” Joel Quenneville said of Kane’s pass. “He saw Hoss and everybody thought it was on the left side, including me, and then he pulls that off and Hoss doesn’t waste it and buries it. It was a special ending.”

The Hawk’s powered offense, which racked up 14 goals in the previous three games, needed the man-advantage to score all three Thursday night. Part of that was due to an outstanding performance by Lehtonen, who made 38 saves after coming within 3.4 seconds of a 39-save shutout Tuesday in a 2-1 win at Detroit.

“If Kari isn’t there, there is no game tonight,” Dallas defenseman Stephane Robidas said. “There’s no chance we get a point. We just got lucky that we hung in there for that long. We’ve just got to tighten up defensively. You can’t play like that all the time.”

Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan was not happy with the performance of his team, which was outshot 41-23 and fell to 2-1-1.

“Lost battles and turnovers,” Gulutzan said. “If you lose one-on-one battles all night, and if you turn the puck over all night, then you’re going to be on the wrong end of things, and that’s what we did.”

With Eric Nystrom in the penalty box for boarding, Toews tied it at 2 with 5:53 left in regulation on a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Lehtonen over the blocker. The Stars had a prime opportunity to win when Niklas Hjalmarsson’s tripping penalty with 1:18 left in regulation gave them a chance to end it on the power play. But even though the man-advantage carried over into overtime, they were unable to capitalize.Ray Whitney’s second goal of the season midway through the second period gave Dallas a 2-0 lead, but the Stars continued to get into penalty trouble, allowing three goals on their last four trips to the box.

“We didn’t change too much of our approach,” Quenneville said. “We didn’t get away from our game, just tried to get on the offensive side of things, drew some penalties, and the power play cashed in. It was a real solid game for us.”

Loui Eriksson put the Stars up 1-0 with a short-handed goal on a spectacular effort with 1.4 seconds remaining in the first period. He fought his way around defenseman Brent Seabrook at the Hawk blue line and fired a wrist shot that Crawford initially appeared to stop, but the puck came loose and slid just over the goal line.Garbutt was awarded his first career penalty shot early in the second when he was pulled down from behind by Seabrook on a breakaway, but Crawford made a glove save on his backhand attempt.Following a turnover by Michal Rozsival, Whitney found himself alone in front and his point-blank backhander over Crawford’s shoulder gave Dallas a two-goal lead at 10:41. The Blackhawks finally solved Lehtonen on a power play at 15:57 when Sharp attempted a pass through the crease that was inadvertently deflected in by Dallas defender Trevor Daley.

“To us, it was almost fun to watch how good he was playing,” Kane said of Lehtonen. “Just making acrobatic save after acrobatic save.”

Dallas forward Jaromir Jagr, who had two goals and two assists on opening night but has been held off the scoresheet since, left with an undisclosed injury late in the third period.

NOTES—During the game, the Stars announced that they signed restricted free agent center Jamie Benn to a five-year contract worth $26.25 million….The last time the Blackhawks opened the season with at least three straight victories was back in 1972-73, when Hall of Famers Tony Esposito and Stan Mikita led them to a 4-0 start en route to the Stanley Cup final….Dallas has allowed just one goal during 5-on-5 play through its first four games.

Western wins in Ft.Wayne, now 16-4

FORT WAYNE—Ceola Clark scored 11 points and Western Illinois, despite not scoring in the last 8 minutes of the game, held on to beat IPFW 43-40 Thursday night.Remy Roberts-Burnett added 10 points for the Summit League-leading Leathernecks (16-4, 8-1 Summit). Jack Houpt’s 3-pointer with 12:49 left was Western Illinois’ last field goal, and the Leathernecks didn’t score after Don McAvoy’s free throws made it 43-31 with 8:35 to play.Mario Hines led the Mastodons (9-13, 2-6) with 13 points and seven rebounds. Joe Edwards scored with 1:34 left to get Fort Wayne within three, but the Mastodons’ Luis Jacobo missed a pair of 3-point tries in the final minute.Western won the first meeting between the teams 62-50 on Dec. 29 in Macomb, Ill.