Derrick Rose scored a career-high 32 points and the Bulls overcame a season-high 40 points from Joe Johnson to beat Atlanta 101-98 in overtime Saturday night and snap the Hawks’ six-game win streak.The Bulls, who trailed by as much as 14 in the first half, momentarily took the lead in the fourth. They then fell behind by nine before making another run.Rose scored the tying basket in regulation, then hit two free throws with 10.8 seconds left in overtime to seal it, sending the Bulls to their second straight win.The Hawks had a chance to tie it, but Johnson missed a 3-point attempt. Rose got the rebound and missed two free throws with 2.3 seconds left, but Joakim Noah blocked an outlet pass after Al Horford grabbed the rebound to secure the victory.The missed free throws aside, Rose was at his best despite needing a cortisone shot for pain in his right rib cage. The Bulls would like him to assert himself, and he did just that, burying 14 of 24 shots.Luol Deng chipped in with 21 points and 12 rebounds. John Salmons scored 16 and the Bulls rallied again after falling behind by 17 in a win over New York on Thursday.That was enough to offset a big effort by Johnson, who finished two points shy of his career high. Horford had 15 points and 12 rebounds, Jamal Crawford scored 14, but the Hawks simply couldn’t put away the Bulls.Salmons’ corner 3-pointer gave the Bulls a 97-94 lead. Atlanta’s Josh Smith then scored down low before a driving Deng shoveled the ball to Rose for a layup that made it 99-96 with 59 seconds remaining.Johnson then hit two free throws to pull Atlanta within one, and Deng charged into Smith with 19.8 seconds left, but Johnson missed on a layup after driving by Salmons. Noah tipped the ball away as it bounced off the rim, Luol Deng got the rebound and Rose made it a three point game with two free throws.It was a sharp turnaround for the Bulls, who looked like they were going to be blown out by Atlanta for the second time in 10 days. Even after they fell behind in the fourth, the Hawks looked like they were in good shape.But Kirk Hinrich nailed a 3-pointer with 2:36 left in regulation to pull the Bulls to 88-86, and they eventually tied it at 92 on Rose’s driving layup with 35 seconds left after Johnson missed a jumper.Johnson, who scored 12 in the fourth quarter, had another chance to give the Hawks the lead but missed a short fadeaway with 22 seconds left.Deng grabbed the rebound, and after a full timeout and 20-second timeout, eventually missed an 18-footer off the dribble as time expired.

NOTES—A three-time All-Star with an expiring contract, Johnson wasn’t offering any clues about where he might wind up next season. “Anything’s possible,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. As of right now, I’m going to have fun.” The Hawks are off to one of their best starts, so staying put is an option. The Bulls also could be a major player in free agency. … Hawks F Joe Smith missed his fifth straight game with a dislocated left thumb. …Tyrus Thomas will likely participate Sunday in some contact drills for the first time since he broke his left forearm in early November and could return after Christmas. Coach Vinny Del Negro does not expect him to play Monday against Sacramento or Tuesday in New York. The Bulls’ next game after that is Dec. 26 against New Orleans.

EVANSTON—John Shurna scored 22 points and Northwestern used aggressive defense to beat mistake-prone Stanford 70-62 Saturday, the Wildcats’ eight consecutive victory.Northwestern (9-1) matched its best start in 79 years. The winning streak is its longest since it went 9-0 to start the 1993-94 season. Northwestern had lost its previous four games to Stanford.Landry Fields had 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Stanford (5-5), which was forced into 18 turnovers and committed 28 fouls. Entering the game, the Cardinal had averaged only 11.3 turnovers, 17th best in the nation.

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Robo Kreps had 25 points and nine rebounds Saturday to lead UIC to a 69-49 victory over Northern Illinois.Jeremy Buttell scored 16 and Zavion Neely 13 for the Flames (3-6).Michael Fakuade led the Huskies (1-7) with 11 points and nine boards.Northern Illinois got off quickly, leading 11-4. But Neely’s basket, part of a 10-0 Flames run, tied it 11-11 with 14:27 left in the first half, and UIC never trailed after that.K.C. Robbins scored with 3:29 left to give the Flames their largest lead of the first half at 34-18. They led 36-27 at intermission and steadily pulled away.The Flames outshot the Huskies 42.9 percent to 32.5 and committed only seven turnovers.UIC beat NIU for the third straight time and the ninth time in a row in Chicago.Northern lost for the 40th time in its last 45 road games.

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ROSEMONT—Will Walker scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half Saturday to lead DePaul to a 86-69 win over Texas State.Devin Hill and Mike Stovall had 19 points each, and Stovall also had nine rebounds and six assists for DePaul (7-4). The Blue Demons rebounded from a home loss to American on Wednesday.Trailing 32-21 with 4:39 left in the first half, DePaul was able to regain the lead by closing the half with a 13-0 run to go ahead 34-32. Hill made a pair of 3-pointers during the span and Stovall had a basket with 32 seconds left.Dylan Hale led Texas State (3-8) with 22 points and John Rybak had 21 points.The Blue Demons stretched their lead in the second half. Stovall had a putback to put them up 42-36, Jeremiah Kelly had a three-point play and freshman walk-on Nate Rogers made a pair of free throws to extend the Blue Demons lead to 51-38 with 13:04 left.In the first half, Texas State trailed 14-11 but scored the game’s next 13 points. Rybak’s 3-pointer capped the run that gave the Bobcats a 24-14 lead.Stovall scored 12 in the first half and Hill had 10. Rybak made three of his four 3-point attempts in the half; for the game, he was 5-for-10 from behind the arc. Hale was 5-for-9 in the contest.

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SOUTH BEND—Luke Harangody scored 23 points, four other Notre Dame players scored in double figures and the Fighting Irish shot 60 percent in the second half en route to an 84-73 victory over UCLA on Saturday.Harangody missed his first four shots, then went 9-of-15 from the floor the rest of the way.Tim Abromaitis and Ben Hansbrough hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second half to spark an 11-3 spurt by the Irish, who went ahead 53-42 on a jumper by Tyrone Nash. The Irish (10-2) later extended the lead to 76-63 when Harangody scored on a fastbreak basket with 2:55 left.Michael Roll hit a jumper and Malcolm Lee hit a 3-pointer and a layup as the Bruins (3-7) went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 76-70 with 65 seconds left. But Harangody scored on a fastbreak dunk and a pair of free throws to quickly restore the lead to 10 points.

BALTIMORE—The starting time of Sunday’s game between the Bears and Baltimore Ravens was moved back to 3:15 p.m. Chicago time on Friday because of an impending heavy snowstorm.The game was originally scheduled to start at Noon(CST). The Bears tried to fly into Baltimore a day early Friday,but mechanical problems with their aircraft as well as the BWI airport being already snow packed,moved the Bears departure back to the original departure day of Saturday. With between a foot and a half to two feet of snow expected to hit the “Beltway”,there is now some doubt about the Bears even getting to Baltimore by Saturday night. An estimated 10-15 inches of snow is expected to fall in Maryland, beginning shortly before midnight on Friday and ending in the early-morning hours Sunday.

LES

Jonathan Toews showed Team Canada general manager Steve Yzerman why he’d be a pretty good Olympian — especially if games are decided by shootouts.Toews scored once in regulation and again in the shootout, leading the Blackhawks to a 5-4 victory over the Boston Bruins.Toews, who is 10 for 18 on career shootout attempts, said he didn’t even know Yzerman was at the United Center scouting players for the Winter Games, which will take place in Vancouver in February.The Blackhawks are 14-3-1 since Toews, their 21-year-old captain, returned Nov. 9 after missing six games with a concussion.Despite blowing three one-goal leads and having its shutout streak snapped at 150 minutes, 43 seconds, the Blackhawks improved its NHL-best home record to 15-3-1 while playing before its largest crowd this season (21,717). At 22-8-3, the Blackhawks are off to their best start in 27 years.Patrick Kane scored the shootout clincher and Kris Versteeg, Patrick Sharp and Andrew Ladd had regulation goals for the Blackhawks, who defeated Boston for the first time in almost six years. They had been 0-4-1 against the Bruins in that span.Tim Thomas made 40 saves, many of them acrobatic stops, but couldn’t prevent the Bruins from losing their third straight game. David Krejci scored twice for Boston, including the goal that forced overtime with 2:43 left in regulation. Thomas, who couldn’t be faulted on any of Chicago’s regulation goals, said his timing was off during the shootout.Patrice Bergeron’s attempt to start the shootout.Toews then beat Thomas low to the stick side. After Blake Wheeler hit the post to Niemi’s left, Kane stuffed a backhander past Thomas to give the Blackhawks their eighth shootout or overtime victory this year, tied for most in the NHL.Friday’s quick shootout outcome was the antithesis of several of the Hawks multiple-round outings earlier in the year.The Hawks had recorded consecutive shutouts and hadn’t allowed a goal in exactly a week before Krejci beat Niemi 9:22 into the game on a nice pass from Wheeler.Poor second-period defense by the Bruins gave Thomas no chance on point-blank shots by Versteeg and Sharp.Daniel Paille made it 2-2 at 16:32 of the second. Toews then scored with 26.6 seconds left in the period as he stood alone in front of the net and hacked at the puck until it went past Thomas.Boston’s Johnny Boychuck and Andrew Ladd traded third-period goals before Krejci scored on a rebound to tie it 4-all. Mark Recchi had two assists for the Bruins and leads all active players with 1,461 points and 909 assists.

NOTES—Nicklas Hjalmarsson

was ill and missed the game. He was replaced by Jordan Hendry.

AT LONG LAST, The Cubs have unloaded troubled,pain in the butt Milton Bradley who wore out his welcome with a seventh Big League Club. Bradley heads to the improving Seattle Mariners,but at a cost. To get the M’s to take Bradley,the Cubs had to take pitcher Carlos Silva and his 8.60(in 2009)ERA. Both players still have hefty contracts and since Silva is due for more money than Bradley, the Mariners are also sending $8 million bucks to the Northsiders. Bradley was nothing but trouble since Jim Hendry signed him to an ill-advised deal last year. He started off poorly,performed badly in right field and batted just .257 with only 40 RBI’s last season. He was suspended by Major League Baseball for his explosion after being called out on strikes early in the season with the bases loaded. He got into it with Lou Piniella in June during a game with the White Sox on the South Side. Piniella called Bradley a piece of s— and sent him home. Fans at Wrigley Field booed him along with Aaron Miles,Kevin Gregg and others throughout the season. After a September game,Bradley ripped the Cubs,the City of Chicago,the media(of course)and the fans which was the last straw as far as Hendry was concerned. He suspended Bradley with pay for the last few weeks of the season.

Bradley also forgot how many outs there were in an inning when he caught a fly ball for the second out with two runners on base. Thinking the inning was over,he tossed the ball into the RF Bleachers as the runners kept on running around the bases.

Nobody in the Cub Clubhouse was unhappy when Bradley was suspended by Hendry. Cub Fans would not have tolerated it had the Cubs tried to bring him back in 2010 at either Mesa or Wrigley in a Cub uniform.

“DING DONG, BRAD-LEE IS GONE, WICKED MILTON BRADLEY’S GONE, DING DONG,NOW MILTON BRADLEYS GONE!

HE’S SEATTLE’S PROBLEM NOW, HA HA, YOU DIDN’T LAST, DON’T LET, THE DOOR HIT YOU IN YOU’RE BIG ARROGANT ASS,

DING DONG, BRAD-LEE IS GONE, WICKED MILTON BRADLEY’S GONE. HIT THE ROAD,AND DON’T COME BACK NO MORE! ”

LES

***OK, how many of you are planning to watch the Bears-Ravens game Sunday? The Bears are out of it and despite that,Coach Lovie Smith wants to treat these games as if they matter. He had no intention of playing some of the younger guys to see what they can do.

***There are plenty of things going around about what will happen to the Coaching Staff or Front Office after these last three games. It’s possible that the answer to that question is….NOTHING. But the first couple of weeks of January should be very interesting around Halas Hall.

***Local College Basketball has started out pretty well for Northwestern,Loyola,Illinois State and Illinois. DePaul started out decently also until their one sided loss to Mississippi State in Tampa and this week’s embarrassing defeat at the hands on American University in Rosemont. UIC also has struggled with a six game losing streak following their only win-over Illinois-Springfield.But the Flames surprised Oregon State in the Pavilion Wednesday evening,so perhaps they are getting a bit better. Northwestern lost tow key players,Kevin Cobel and Jeff Ryan to season ending injuries. But they are off to their best start since 1993-94 under the late Ricky Birdsong when they went to the NIT.

***Which Front Office in Chicago has had the rougher off season? The Bears prior to this year? The Cubs after a good 2008 season that ended with a dud performance in the NLDS against the Dodgers? The Cubs currently(with Milton Bradley still not unloaded)?, Or the Bulls heading into this season? The White Sox have done some things to try and get back atop the A.L.Central and the Blackhawks seem to be capitalizing on last season’s success,and are legit contenders not only in the NHL’s Western Conference,but the entire league.

***Let’s start with the Bears who quietly unloaded two veteran wide receivers in Brandon Lloyd and Marty Booker. Both are pretty much done,but no true replacements were acquired other than Johnny Knox in the draft,who has had a nice season. Matt Forte has struggled for the most part behind a very thin offensive line. While the trade for Jay Cutler should prove to be a very good one in the long one, it also left the Bears with no draft picks in the first or second round this spring. Since Jerry Angelo has done pretty well with third and fourth round picks, this may not be that bad of a situation. Of course the status of the Bears Coaching staff as well as front office members will be watched carefully after the season ending January 3 game with Detroit.

***One thing that has been obvious since last year is a unsuccessful conversion of Devin Hester from the game’s best kick returning to full time wide receiver. He has shown that he is nothing more than a #3 receiver-even on the Bears who are receiver challenged right now.

***Jim Hendry sure had a tough off season between 2008 and 2009. It started last New Year’s Eve when Mark DeRosa was dealt to Cleveland for three Minor League hurlers,none of which has contributed to the Big League Club. Kerry Wood was not tendered a contract for 2009 and he signed with the Indians. DeRosa’s salary was moved to clear dollars to sign a so called left handed hitting power hitting outfielder. Hendry did not sign Raul Ibanez,Bobby Abreu or Adam Dunn. Instead he gambled that the Cubs could tolerate Milton Bradley,who was a failure in one way or another with all but one of his seven previous teams. Bradley’s miserable season speaks for itself.He also ripped the Cubs,the City of Chicago,the media,and of most importance, the Fans. They are having trouble finding a ‘sucker’ to take Bradley off their hands. And for those who are suggesting that the Cub simply bring him back this year….NO,NO,NO,NO!!!! The fans will not tolerate it if Milton Bradley shows up at Ho Ho Kam Park in a Cubs uniform,much less Wrigley Field.

***The Cubs vaunted rotation is also not a good as it was cracked up to be. Rich Harden is gone, Ted Lilly will likely miss the start of the regular season after off season surgery, Ryan Dempster will try to bounce back from a do-do season and Carlos Zambrano also had a blah season(even though his ERA was under 4.00). Randy Wells hopefully will have a better second season than Geovany Soto, or Matt Forte.

***The Bulls allowed Ben Gordon to escape to the division rival Pistons, and now they have two big time weaknesses. Low post scoring,and outside shooting. Those two problems have helped lead to a bad start to this season. The more they struggle,the more one has to thing that the Bulls will again fail to land a big time free agent this coming off season. La Bron James,Dwyane Wade,Chris Bosh and others are not likely to be wearing Bulls uniforms next year.

***Remember the Bulls two free agent signings in the early 2000’s? Ron Mercer and Eddie Robinson. No wonder Tim Floyd was glad to get out of here!

LES

The way this one started, the Bulls looked as though they were headed toward another blowout loss. Instead, they can breathe a little easier.Luol Deng scored 24 points, John Salmons added 20 and the Bulls rallied from 17 down to beat the New York Knicks 98-89 Thursday night for their third win in 14 games.The Bulls took control with a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter. Salmons scored seven points in the final 47.7 seconds, hitting a key 3-pointer — an encouraging sight for a team that was counting on him to help compensate for Ben Gordon’s offseason departure.Tough for him. Tough for the Bulls. For one night, anyway, they could exhale.Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah came up big after taking cortisone shots and the Bulls came away with a much-needed win.The Knicks led by as many as 17 in the first quarter thanks to a torrid start by Al Harrington, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the period. New York attempted an NBA-record 29 3-pointers in the first half, hitting nine.The Knicks finished 16 of 47 from long range, setting an NBA season high for 3-point tries and falling two shy of the league mark on a night when they took only 39 2-point shots.The Knicks were leading 79-75 about 4½ minutes into the fourth when the Bulls scored 10 straight points and 15 of 17, sending New York to its second consecutive loss after winning four in a row.Rose scored 18 after aggravating his right rib cage in Tuesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and Noah added 15 points and nine rebounds despite tendinitis in his left rotator cuff. Taj Gibson scored 12 points, including four in the go-ahead run, and grabbed 10 rebounds.Danilo Gallinari scored 18 for New York, but the Bulls were the ones making shots when it counted.New York was leading by four after Gallinari’s 3 with 8:35 left when the Bulls took over.Rose’s layup made it 85-79 Chicago with 4:22 left, and after two free throws by Duhon, the Bulls put this one away. Rose drove for a layup and Salmons nailed a 3 with 47.7 seconds left, making it 90-81.

NOTES—

Dallas holds the league record with 49 3-pointers against New Jersey on March 5, 1996…..The Bulls lack an inside scorer. Former Bull Eddy Curry has lacked a role with the Knicks, so could there be a reunion at some point? “Right now, I’m a New York Knick,” he said. “I love my situation. I love home, also.”. Don’t bet on it….. Former Bull Larry Hughes was inactive because of a strained left groin and is expected to miss Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers….The Bulls host the Atlanta Hawks Saturday night.

Cristobal Huet made 27 saves for his second shutout of the season, and Patrick Kane assisted on all three goals to match a career high in the Blackhawks’ 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.Troy Brouwer, Brian Campbell and Marian Hossa scored, and Jonathan Toews had two assists.With Huet’s 22nd career shutout, the Blackhawks have not allowed a goal over two games and a span of 141:21. Backup goalie Antti Niemi blanked Tampa Bay 4-0 on Sunday night in the Hawks previous contest.The Blackhawks also lowered their NHL-leading team goals-against average to 1.96. Simply, players like Kane, Toews, Hossa and defenseman Duncan Keith can control the puck and did against the Blues. Even if the talented Blackhawks don’t score, the other team can’t. Kane, the Blackhawks’ leading points scorer, returned to face the Blues after leaving Sunday’s game with a cut above his left eye that required seven stitches. The Blackhawks improved their NHL-leading home record to 14-3-1. At 21-8-3 overall, they are off to its best start since 1982-83 when it was 21-5-6 after 32 games.Ty Conklin made 32 saves for the Blues, who dropped to 8-3-3 on the road. He stopped breakaways by Kris Versteeg and Andrew Ladd. Cam Barker left the game early in the third period with a lower-body injury that Quenneville didn’t believe was serious.The Blackhawks outshot the Blues 21-9 in the first period and led 2-0 after 20 minutes. Brouwer opened the scoring on with 5:27 left in the first when his shot from the top of the right circle deflected in off St. Louis defenseman Barret Jackman. Campbell made it 2-0 just over three minutes later during a power-play on a screened drive from the right point. The sailed past Conklin on the stick side.The power-play goal was just the Hawks second in 22 chances over six games.The Blues had few prime chances against Huet. However, David Perron’s shot from a sharp angle early in the second slithered past Huet and across the crease. With 7:50 left in the period, Huet made a sharp glove save on B.J. Crombeen’s shot from the slot.Hossa’s goal with 3:06 left in the second extended the Blackhawks’ lead to 3-0. Left uncovered in the slot when two Blues defensemen drifted to the crease, Hossa took Toews’ feed from behind the net and fired a shot in off Conklin’s pad. Huet made a quick pad save on Paul Kariya with four minutes left in the third.

NOTES—The back-to-back shutouts by Huet and Niemi were the first by two Hawk goalies since Tony Esposito and Murray Bannerman did it in March 1983….The last goal allowed by the Blackhawks was to Buffalo’s Clarke MacArthur at 18:39 of the second period in a 2-1 loss the Sabres last Friday night….The game was the first this season between the Central Division rivals, both of whom played their 32nd contest. The Hawks and St. Louis each had faced every other team in the Western Conference….Tomas Kopecky and Blues RW Keith Tkachuk were healthy scratches….The crowd of 21,137 was a season high for the Blackhawks and their 68th straight sellout…..Blackhawks career scoring leader Stan Mikita dropped the ceremonial first puck with his three Grandsons.

Six-footer Robo Kreps scored on a drive to the basket over 6-foot-11 center Roeland Schaftenaar with 5.6 seconds to play Wednesday night, rallying UIC to a 63-61 upset over Oregon State.Kreps finished with 19 points and Zavion Neely added 13 for UIC (2-6), which had lost its previous six games by an average of 14.2 points and had previously beaten only Division II Illinois-Springfield.Schaftenaar’s layup gave Oregon State a 61-58 lead with 50.9 seconds left. After Brad Birton’s basket pulled the Flames within a point, the Beavers (4-5) threw away the inbounds pass with 21.8 seconds to go.Kreps then spotted an opening on the right side, drove in against Schaftenaar and scored for a 62-61 lead. Josh Tarver’s inbounds pass was intercepted by Neely, who made one of two free throws. Birton picked off Tarver’s next inbounds pass to seal the victory.It was the third humiliating loss this season for Oregon State (4-5), which opened the season with a 24-point loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and later dropped a home game to Sacramento State.The loss ruined the return to Chicago for Oregon State coach Craig Robinson, President Barack Obama’s brother-in-law. Two years ago, when he was coaching at Brown, Robinson led his team to a victory over Northwestern in Evanston. Robinson got to know Obama during pickup basketball games in Chicago some two decades ago, years before Obama married Robinson’s sister, Michelle.

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PEORIA—Courtney Stanley drained a 3-pointer from half-court as time expired to finish Loyola’s comeback from a 12-point deficit in a 68-65 victory over Bradley on Wednesday night.The Ramblers’ Terrance Hill led all scorers with 20, including five in a row in the final 1:31 that turned Bradley’s five-point edge into a 65-65 tie preceding Stanley’s winner. Walt Gibler went 10-for-10 from the line in scoring 12 for Loyola (7-2), and Ben Averkamp added 10.Bradley (5-4), which was held scoreless for the last 3:02, got 17 points from Andrew Warren, 12 from Chris Roberts, 11 from Milos Knezevic and 10 from Sam Maniscalco.The Braves outshot Loyola 48.9 percent to 40.7 and smoked the Ramblers from 3-point range, sinking 10 of 19 to Loyola’s 6 of 22. But they couldn’t overcome an 18-9 advantage at the line for Loyola, which won its third straight game.

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ROSEMONT—Nick Hendra hit a go-ahead 3-pointer and Vlad Moldoveanu scored 26 points off the bench as American upset DePaul 62-57 on Wednesday night.Hendra’s shot from beyond the arc put the Eagles (2-8) up 59-57 with 2:28 remaining. After Will Walker missed a 3-point attempt for DePaul (6-4), Daniel Munoz was fouled and made a pair of free throws to put American up 61-57 with 34.4 seconds left.Hendra finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting.Devin Hill scored 14 points and Walker added 13 for the Blue Demons, who played without center Mac Koshwal for the seventh straight game because of a left foot injury.Moldoveanu scored seven points during a 9-2 run by American in the second half. His jumper gave the Eagles a 55-50 lead with 4:32 remaining.DePaul trailed by 10 early in the second half but got back in the game with a 11-0 run keyed by Hill’s seven points during the span. Hill’s free throw gave DePaul a 35-34 lead. Leading 18-17 in the first half, American scored nine straight points. Hendra made a 3-pointer, and Moldoveanu connected on a jumper to give the Eagles a 27-17 lead with six minutes remaining in the half.Mike Bizoukas’ layup cut the American lead to 32-24 with four seconds to play before halftime.During the first half, the Eagles were 5 of 11 from 3-point range and held DePaul to 35.7-percent shooting.

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ATHENS—D.J. Cooper scored 18 points, including eight during a late first-half stretch, as Ohio University defeated Illinois State 75-57 on Wednesday night.The Bobcats (6-3) led 18-17 with 5:04 left in the first half after a layup and free throw by Dinma Odiakosa, who paced the Redbirds (7-2) with 13 points and 11 rebounds.After a jumper by Reggie Keely put Ohio ahead 20-17 with 4:38 remaining, Cooper added a layup 29 seconds later to make it 22-17. Cooper’s 3-pointer made it 25-19 with 3:37 left and he closed the half with another 3-pointer for a 28-23 lead 25 seconds before intermission.The Bobcats began the second half with a 22-7 run to lead 50-30 with 10:13 remaining and led by at least 13 the rest of the way.

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EVANSTON—Juice Thompson scored 14 points as Northwestern won its seventh consecutive game Wednesday night, defeating North Florida 84-54.Five other Wildcats scored in double figures besides Thompson, as Luka Mirkovic had 13 points and a career-high eight assists, Jeremy Nash and John Shurna added 11 apiece, and freshmen Drew Crawford and Alex Marcotullio each scored 10.Northwestern (8-1) has its longest winning streak since 1993-94, when the Wildcats won nine in a row. They host Stanford on Saturday.Leading just 30-29 in the first half, NU used a 15-2 run to grab a commanding 45-31 advantage. The Wildcats sank three 3-pointers in the surge, including two by Marcotullio. Thompson had three of Northwestern’s nine first-half 3s. Northwestern finished with 14 three-pointers.Jerron Granberry led North Florida (1-6) with 16 points.

Whether he was in the trainers’ room or on the court, Kobe Bryant couldn’t escape the pain. He did a better job avoiding defenders.Bryant scored a season-high 42 points despite a broken finger, and the Los Angeles Lakers won for the 12th time in 13 games, beating the fading Bulls 96-87 on Tuesday.Down one through three quarters, the Lakers took the lead early in the fourth and sent Chicago to its 11th loss in 13 games.Bryant was simply phenomenal playing with a splint on his broken right index finger. He tore through the defense after struggling to score 16 in a loss to Utah on Saturday, when he also needed IV fluids because of a stomach problem.He had trouble handling the ball, leading to eight turnovers. Otherwise, he had little difficulty with the Bulls.It didn’t seem to affect him in the early going, scoring 20 points in the first quarter and 25 in the half against single coverage as Los Angeles built a 54-48 lead. Some fans even chanted “MVP! MVP!” after his dunk in the closing seconds.Ron Artest wouldn’t even ask Bryant about it.Andrew Bynum added 11 points, Pau Gasol grabbed 16 rebounds and Shannon Brown scored seven of his nine in the fourth as Los Angeles came away with the win.Luol Deng scored 21 and so did Derrick Rose even though he strained a left rib in the first quarter. Brad Miller scored 15 and Joakim Noah added 11 points and 20 rebounds for his 11th double-double, but the Bulls came up short against the Western Conference leaders.They can take some comfort in this, though: They didn’t get embarrassed.That’s a big improvement for a team that lost to New Jersey and got blown out by Toronto, Atlanta and Boston during an ugly seven-day stretch.The Bulls were even leading 73-72 going into the fourth.Brown, who’s from the Chicago area, buried a corner 3 and dunked on a three-on-one to give the Lakers a 77-73 lead a minute into the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles stayed in control the rest of the way.It was 90-84 after Miller buried a jumper with 2:14 left. But Bryant hit a 12-footer in the final minute, and Gasol converted two free throws before Bryant punctuated the win with that dunk, drawing a roar from the crowd.

NOTES—

Artest said he does not anticipate any trouble with Ben Wallace when Los Angeles visits Detroit on Sunday, although he wouldn’t mind fighting him on pay-per-view. He even called Wallace “a good guy” who has a “great family,” and said if they did go at it, the bout would have to be sanctioned. “It’s something that’s kinda cool and probably will never happen,” Artest said. In a recent interview with the Sporting News, Artest said he’s still ready to fight Wallace, the player who shoved him on the play that preceded the brawl with Pistons fans when Artest was with Indiana….Noah had a season-high six blocks, and was one off his season-high for rebounds.