Illini blanked 39-zip by Penn State

 

Illinois Fighting Illini (2004 - 2013)

STATE COLLEGE—Christian Hackenberg threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, caught a scoring pass and Penn State beat Illinois 39-0 on Saturday.Hackenberg was 21 of 29 and connected with Chris Godwin and Geno Lewis for 5- and 6-yard touchdowns in the first quarter. He caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Nick Scott in the third.Saquon Barkley rushed for 84 yards on 20 carries and added another 58 yards receiving. He scored on a 7-yard run to give Penn State (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) a 32-0 lead early in the fourth.After two of his extra points were blocked and he sailed a kickoff out of bounds, Joey Julius was replaced by Tyler Davis who made 42- and 28-yard field goals. Mark Allen added a 20-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring.The Fighting Illini (4-4, 1-3) managed just 167 yards and punted on 12 of their 15 possessions.

Hawks road struggle continues with 5-4 loss to Wild

ST. PAUL—Jason Zucker scored 18 seconds into the game and assisted on Nino Niederreiter‘s winner to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 5-4 win over the Blackhawks on Friday night.Ryan Carter, Charlie Coyle and Jared Spurgeon also had goals for Minnesota, which dealt its playoff nemesis its second straight loss.Mikko Koivu added three assists, and Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves, as the Wild won their fifth straight at home to start the season. Jonathan Toews scored twice for the Blackhawks, which finally snapped a 5-on-5 scoring drought. Brent Seabrook and Artem Anisimov had a goal each for for the Hawksand  Scott Darling stopped 25 shots. The Blackhawks have beaten Minnesota in the second round of the playoffs the past two seasons.

Bulls creamed on boards, Pistons win on OT

Chicago Bulls Logo - Red bull with script above head

AUBURN HILLS—Marcus Morris scored 26 points, Andre Drummond had 20 points and 20 rebounds and the Detroit Pistons took control at the start of overtime to beat the Bulls 98-94 on Friday night.The Pistons are 3-0 for the first time since winning their first four games in 2008-09. They have been impressive on defense so far, and they held Derrick Rose scoreless until the fourth quarter. They have held every opponent to less than 95 points this season.Detroit scored the first seven points of overtime, taking a 90-83 lead on Anthony Tolliver‘s 3-pointer.Rose finished with eight points, and Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 23. The Bulls were trying for their first 3-0 start since 1996-97, when they won their first 12 games and went on to their fifth NBA Title.

Former Hawk Ladd gets game winner as Jets win 3-1.

WINNIPEG—Michael Hutchinson stopped 45 shots and Andrew Ladd scored on the power play against his former team, to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-1 win over the Blackhawks on Thursday night.Bryan Little set up a pair of goals for the Jets, who stopped the Blackhawks’ four-game winning streak.The Jets (6-3-1) were ahead 2-1 going into the third period on goals by Blake Wheeler and Ladd. Mark Scheifele added to the lead at 8:04 when he took a pass from rookie Nikolaj Ehlers and beat goalie Corey Crawford on the short side.Patrick Kane scored the game’s first goal, his sixth of the season at 1:26 into the game on a power play for the Hawks (6-4-0).Crawford had come into the game with a pair of shutouts in his four straight wins. He stopped 28 shots.The Hawks play at Minnesota Friday night.

Bulls 2-0 after 15 point win over Nets in Brooklyn

Chicago Bulls Logo - Red bull with script above head

BROOKLYN—Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Nikola Mirotic had 18 and the Bulls won for the second time in two nights to open the season, beating the Brooklyn Nets 115-100 on Wednesday night.Pau Gasol added 16 points and Derrick Rose 15 for the Bulls, who followed their season-opening victory over Cleveland by shooting 54 percent and leading by as many as 19. They built a big early lead, blew most of it with a defenseless second quarter and quickly pulled away again in the third.Brook Lopez had 26 points and Andrea Bargnani had 17. The Nets opened their 40th season in the NBA by falling into a quick 7-0 hole and trailing the rest of the way. They missed all nine 3-point attempts.The Nets had won their first home game in all three seasons since moving to Brooklyn. Seven of their first 10 games this season are on the road, including a back-to-back this weekend at San Antonio and Memphis.

Gasol blocks James shot to save Bulls season opening win over Cavs

Chicago Bulls Logo - Red bull with script above head

Nikola Mirotic scored 19 points and Derrick Rose added 18 to lead the Bulls to a season-opening 97-95 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers with President Barack Obama watching on Tuesday night.Pau Gasol blocked a potential tying layup by James in the closing seconds. Jimmy Butler then broke up an inbounds pass intended for James as time expired.The president sat courtside for most of the game as his beloved Bulls knocked off the defending Eastern Conference champions and gave coach Fred Hoiberg a narrow win in his first game.James scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Cleveland, but the Cavaliers came up short against the team they knocked out in the conference semifinals last season.

GROBBER’S NFL WEEK 8 PICKS:

AFC GAMES: S.Diego over Balt, HOU iver Tenn, Cin over PITT, OAK over NYJets NFC GAMES: ATL over T.Bay, N.ORL over NY Giants, STL over S.Fran INT-CONF GAMES: Ariz, over CLEVE, Seat over DAL THURSDAY: N.ENG over Mia MON NIGHT: CAR over Indy NFC NORTH GAMES: KC over Det(@ London),DENV over G.Bay, Minn iver BEARS Last Week:Producers 10-4, Les 8-6, Total: Producers 66-40, Les 64-42 HOME teams in ALL CAPS.

Hawks win 1-0 in OT on Toews Goal AGAIN!

Jonathan Toews scored 51 seconds into overtime, Corey Crawford made 39 saves and the Blackhawks beat the Anaheim Ducks 1-0 on Monday night in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals.Crawford earned his second straight shutout and No. 14 for his career as the Blackhawks closed out a perfect 4-0 homestand. They also beat Tampa Bay 1-0 in overtime on Saturday night on Toews’ first goal of the season.Taking advantage of the open ice for the NHL’s new 3-on-3 overtime, Toews skated in and beat Frederik Andersen over his left shoulder.The Ducks were shut out for the second straight game and became the first NHL team since the New York Americans in 1930-31 to be shut out five times in their first eight games of the season. Andersen finished with 23 stops.

Toews OT Goal gives Hawks 1-0 win over Lightning

Jonathan Toews scored his first goal of the season 17 seconds into overtime to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night in a rematch of last June’s Stanley Cup Final.Corey Crawford made 21 saves for this first shutout this season and 13th of his career in the Hawk’s third straight victory.A determined Toews netted the winner when he barreled into the Tampa Bay zone, and muscled between Anton Stralman and Valtteri Filppula to the net. Rookie goalie Kristers Gudlevskis stopped Toews’ initial chance, but the captain knocked in his own rebound.Gudlevskis made 31 saves is his second NHL start, and first appearance since April 2014, as coach Jon Cooper gave No. 1 goalie Ben Bishop the night off. The Hawks host Anaheim Monday night.

Back up QB leads Wisconsin past Illini 24-13

Illinois Fighting Illini (2004 - 2013)

CHAMPAIGN—Bart Houston came off the bench to throw for 232 yards and two touchdowns, and Wisconsin beat Illinois 24-13 on Saturday.Wisconsin starting quarterback Joel Stave left the game late in the first quarter with a head injury. But the Badgers (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten) didn’t miss a beat with Houston.The junior found his favorite target, Alex Erickson, for a 9-yard touchdown with 9:42 left in the game to give Wisconsin a 24-13 lead and effectively put the game away.Erickson led the Badgers in receiving with 10 catches for 96 yards and had four rushes for 81 yards.Wes Lunt had 278 yards passing with one interception for Illinois (4-3, 1-2).The Badgers also lost starting center Dan Voltz in the second half with a leg injury.