CLEVELAND—LeBron James danced all over the Bulls.Joakim Noah didn’t like being his partner.James scored 23 points, added 11 assists and busted out several smooth hip-hop dance moves in the second half that annoyed and angered Noah as the Cleveland Cavaliers won for the 11th time in 13 games, beating the Bulls 101-87 on Friday night. Mo Williams and Daniel Gibson added 15 points apiece for the Cavaliers, who avenged a one-point loss to the Bulls on Nov. 5. Cleveland dropped to 3-3 after that 86-85 defeat, but is now 14-5 and beginning to shape into the NBA title contender everyone expected. Rookie Taj Gibson had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Derrick Rose scored 13 points for the Bulls, who have dropped six of seven. The Bulls have lost seven straight road games since their win over Cleveland last month.Cleveland did not commit a turnover in the second half after having 11 at halftime.James enjoyed every minute of the win. After Jamario Moon’s alley-oop dunk put the Cavs ahead 84-65 in the fourth, James, who was on the bench resting at the time, bounced out of his chair and hopped onto the floor. He continued to rock out during the timeout, mugging for the crowd and dancing along with teammate Danny Green to House of Pain’s anthemic rap hit Jump Around. When he was back in the game a few minutes later, James did another shoulder shake after being fouled and when he went to the line, Noah yelled something toward him from the Bulls bench. James walked in Noah’s direction and was slapped with a technical foul.Noah felt James took his dancing too far.James insisted he wasn’t trying to show up the Bulls. He was just having fun.Noah was reluctant to criticize James and was more upset with his performance and the Bulls’ latest loss.Cleveland was just 4 of 14 from the free-throw line and the Cavs were careless as costly turnovers allowed the Bulls to stay close and eventually take a 54-52 lead on Rose’s turnaround jumper in the third.That’s when James decided it was time take over, fueling a 21-4 burst by doing a little bit of everything.He scored eight points, handed out three assists and went diving on the floor for a loose ball, sliding and banging into a cameraman who was kneeling by the scorer’s table. James’ hustle inspired the Cavs, who finally flexed their muscles on defense, stopped throwing the ball away and outscored the Bulls 24-7 over the final 8:03 to take a 15-point lead into the fourth.After making eight turnovers in the second quarter, the Cavs had a flawless final 24 minutes.The Bulls were without guard Kirk Hinrich, who missed his fourth straight game with a sprained left thumb. Coach Vinny Del Negro said the injury is still bothering Hinrich and he’s not likely to play Saturday night when the Bulls host the Toronto Raptors.

NOTES—

***The Cubs continued to unload payroll as they prepare for the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis next week. Unpopular(and bust)Aaron Miles and Jake Fox were sent to Oakland for three minor leaguers.The key was getting Miles’ $1.9 million dollar salary off the board for this coming season. Fox was a good clutch hitter off the bench and filled in as best as possible at different positions, but he’s really suited to be a DH,and going to Oakland should serve him well. STILL nothing new on dumping Milton Bradley(but they are trying).

***Thursday was a landmark day for the Blackhawks as Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith got contract extension. Keith got a 13 year extension worth $72 million bucks,while Kane and Toews each got five years added on for $31.5 million.

***The Bears have lost four in a row,and look horrible on both sides of the ball. Their best player Lance Briggs may miss Sunday’s game with the Rams at Soldier Field, yet they are favored to beat St.Louis. After all,the Rams have only one win.

***The Big Ten finally beat the ACC in the 11th annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge(6 games to 5). The ACC had won the previous ten Challenges. Northwestern and Illinois did their jobs by beating N.C.State and Clemson respectively,and Wisconsin’s upset win over Duke was a great game also. Does this mean the Big Ten is better than most thought? Or is the ACC perhaps down a bit this year?

LES

GREEN BAY—Rahmon Fletcher had 29 points, five assists and four steals as Wisconsin-Green Bay beat Loyola 90-69 Thursday night.Fletcher hit 11 of 19 field goals and 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Troy Cotton added 17 points for the Phoenix (7-2, 1-0 Horizon League), including 3 of 4 3-pointers and all four of his free throws.Bryquis Perine had 12 points and six assists for the Phoenix, including two 3-pointers. In all, Green Bay hit 11 of 21 (52 percent) from behind the 3-point line. Marcus Thomas came off the bench and led the Ramblers (4-2, 0-1) with 13 points, including three 3s. Terrance Hill and Geoff McCammon added 11 points each, and Walt Gibler had 10.Green Bay outrebounded Loyola 43-32 and hit 33 of 64 from the field (52 percent).The Ramblers made 27 of 65 field goals (42 percent) and 8 of 26 3-pointers (31 percent).

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MILWAUKEE—Tony Meier and Ricky Franklin scored 14 points each to lead Wisconsin-Milwaukee past UIC 57-52 Thursday night in the Horizon League opener for both schools.Wisconsin-Milwaukee trailed early in the second half before going on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good. UIC got as close as 46-44 with 5:27 to play but the Panthers scored the next seven points and weren’t threatened after that.The Panthers (6-2) won despite a poor shooting night that saw them make just 29 percent of their shots, and 15 percent (4 of 26) from 3-point range.Kris Harris led all players with 15 points for the Flames (1-4). Brad Birton scored 10 and Jeremy Buttell grabbed 13 rebounds for UIC, which shot 35 percent.

CLEMSON—Mike Tisdale hit the go-ahead jumper with 41 seconds left then blocked David Potter’s driving shot on No. 18 Clemson’s next possession as Illinois rallied from 23 points down for a 76-74 victory Wednesday night.The Illini (5-2) looked finished, down 51-28 early in the second half and with leading scorer Demetri McCamey saddled with three fouls and two points.But Illinois finally got going with a 35-10 run to move in front in the school’s biggest comeback ever. Demontez Still missed a driving shot at the buzzer for Clemson (6-2).Illinois broke a three-game losing streak in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.Mike Davis led the Illini with 22 points. He set a career high with 28 a year ago when Clemson defeated Illinois in a challenge game by the same score, 76-74.Brandon Paul had 20 points for Illinois, whose biggest previous rally came in 2000 when it came from 21 points down to defeat Seton Hall, 87-79.Still led the Tigers with 15 points. Leading scorer Trevor Booker had just three of his 12 points in the second half.Jerai Grant’s dunk gave Clemson a 51-28 lead with 19 minutes to go.Then Illinois got going. Davis had nine points and Paul and D.J. Richardson hit two 3-pointers apiece in a 35-10 run.When Paul stole Potter’s pass and went in for a layup, Illinois was ahead 63-61 with 8:47 to go.It’s the third time in the past four seasons Clemson has lost a sizable lead at Littlejohn Coliseum. In 2007, Virginia used a 19-2 run to win 64-63. Then last February, Florida State went on a 23-4 second-half spurt to beat the Tigers 65-61.The Illini, who lost their past two games to Utah and Bradley, were crisp at the start and hit their first four shots.They tied the game at 19 on Paul’s jam with 10:19 to go in the first half. Then it all fell apart for Illinois as Clemson closed the half with a 28-8 run. With the Tigers up 23-19, McCamey picked up his third foul and went to the bench.When 5-foot-9 Andre Young squeezed past Tisdale, Illinois’ 7-1 center, for a layup, a loud noise that sounded like a coach’s clipboard hitting the floor came from the Illini bench. Illinois coach Bruce Weber was quickly called for a technical foul by official Bryan Kersey.Weber was stunned.

“I didn’t do anything. What did I do?” he shouted as Kersey moved to the other side of the court.Moments later, Booker collected a loose ball and was yanked to the ground by Dominique Keller, who drew an intentional foul. Keller quickly helped Booker to his feet.When Booker made his free throws, Clemson was ahead 39-25. The Tigers eventually led 47-27 at halftime, a lead that seemed safe until Illinois’ second-half surge.

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ROSEMONT—Will Walker scored 21 points and DePaul used outstanding defense to overcome its own offensive woes Wednesday night for a 58-50 victory over Alabama State.DePaul (5-1) is off to its best start since 2003-04, when it also was 5-1 and went on to earn an NCAA tournament bid. The school hasn’t been back to the tourney since and was 9-24 last season, including 0-18 in the Big East.The Blue Demons shot only 36.7 percent but held Alabama State (1-4) to 32.7 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers. DePaul has allowed 54.8 points per game this season and went into Wednesday ranked 12th nationally in that department.Menji Mundadi scored 13 points for the Hornets, who had lost their previous three road games by a combined 100 points. Alabama State stayed in the game by outrebounding DePaul 42-31 and by going 13 for 14 on free throws.

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DE KALB—Bradley broke away from a one-point halftime deficit with two big runs in the second half to defeat Northern Illinois 63-49 on Wednesday night. Andrew Warren made 6 of 12 shots, including 3 3-pointers, and led the Braves (5-2) with 16 points. Taylor Brown was 7 of 11 and scored 15.Darion Anderson’s 18 points made him the only player in double figures for the Huskies (1-5).Bradley’s biggest edge came in shooting. The Braves sank 26 of 50 shots (52 percent), the Huskies just 18 of 53 (34 percent).NIU led at halftime 20-19. But at 17:49 of the second half, Brown’s layup started a 12-0 run that put the Braves ahead to stay 36-25.Tony Nixon’s basket cut the Huskies’ deficit to 40-34 midway through the second half, but Bradley responded with a 10-1 spurt that provided a 50-35 edge on Brown’s layup with 6:32 left.

RALEIGH—Juice Thompson scored 22 points and Northwestern beat North Carolina State 65-53 on Tuesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.Jeremy Nash added 12 points for the Wildcats (6-1). Northwestern led by 14, only briefly trailed and won its fifth straight — the last three coming against teams that entered unbeaten.Tracy Smith had a season-high 23 points — including 10 in a row down the stretch for the Wolfpack (5-1) — on 9-for-18 shooting.N.C. State cut it to 57-52 on Julius Mays’ layup at the two-minute mark before Northwestern put the game in its point guard’s hands. Thompson converted a three-point play about 30 seconds later, then added another free throw to make it a nine-point game and give the Wildcats plenty of breathing room.After Tuesday’s action, the Big Ten and ACC are tied up three wins apiece in this year’s Challenge. The ACC has never lost one of these to the Big Ten.

The Blackhawks needed three periods, an overtime and then 11 rounds of a shootout Tuesday night to secure coach Joel Quenneville’s 500th career victory.Brent Seabrook scored the game-winner in the 11th round of the shootout, sending the Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets and putting Quenneville in an exclusive club. He is the 14th NHL coach to reach 500 wins.Quenneville has a career record of 500-311-132 with the Blues, Avalanche and Blackhawks over parts of 13 seasons.Marian Hossa, playing his first game with the Blackhawks at the United Center, scored in the second round of the shootout. Columbus’ Jakub Voracek tied it in the next round, setting the stage for a goaltending battle between Steve Mason and Cristobal Huet before Seabrook skated in for the winner.The 11 rounds marked the longest shootout in Blackhawks history.Huet made nine saves during the shootout and the Hawks earned the victory in their first home game after an 11-day, six-game road trip.In regulation, the Blackhawks got power-play goals from Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp and a short-handed score from Kris Versteeg. Hossa added two assists.Kris Russell, Antoine Vermette and former Hawk Sami Pahlsson scored for the Blue Jackets.Mason finished with 23 saves, including five in overtime. Huet had 20 and stopped a shot by Rick Nash with about 14 seconds left in the extra period, sending it to a shootout.Russell’s hard slap shot from the top of the left circle 40 seconds into the final period went sailing past Huet and gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead.But on the power play, Duncan Keith’s shot from high between the circles hit Toews in front of the net and eluded Mason, tying it at 3 less than five minutes in.Versteeg took a pass from John Madden near the blue line and faked two defenders on his way down the ice before beating Mason on the glove side for a 1-0 lead with six minutes left in the opening period. It was the Hawks sixth short-handed goal this season.The Blue Jackets tied it in the second when Vermette jammed in a rebound from a scrum in front.Columbus took the lead with a little less than six minutes to go in the second when Pahlsson – who played part of last season with the Blackhawks — shot the puck from the left circle and it zipped past Huet.Sharp then scored on a power play to make it 2-all. Patrick Kane fired the puck across the crease, Sharp stopped it with his stick on the other side of the net and then flicked it in.

NOTES—Attendance was 20,363 in the Hawks first home game since Nov. 15 following a 4-1-1 road trip.

MILWAUKEE—Andrew Bogut felt the Bulls stole a game from the Bucks earlier this year. The former No. 1 pick made sure it didn’t happen again.Bogut returned from an injury with 22 points, 15 rebounds and two big blocks in the closing minutes to rally Milwaukee to a 99-97 victory on Monday night after squandering another big lead.The Bulls overcame an 18-point second-half deficit in the teams’ first meeting on Nov. 3 and won 83-81. In the rematch, the Bulls rallied from a 14-point hole in the third quarter to take a two-point lead in the closing minutes.But Brad Miller missed a shot at the buzzer that would’ve tied it after Derrick Rose, who had 17 of his 19 points in the second half, decided to pass up the final opportunity in the Bulls fifth straight loss.Vinny Del Negro said he called the pick-and-roll for Rose and that it was executed correctly.Bogut was supposed to be out up to four weeks with a lower left leg strain. Instead, the 7-footer only missed six games and proved to be the spark Milwaukee (9-7) badly needed to snap a four-game losing streak. Bogut was slated to play about 20 minutes, but ended up with 35.Carlos Delfino and rookie Brandon Jennings added 15 points each, but Milwaukee failed to protect a big second-half lead for the second straight game.John Salmons had 23 points, Luol Deng 22 points and 14 rebounds and Joakim Noah 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Bulls, who rallied after trailing 70-56 midway through the third.The Bulls (6-9) had three days off after a blowout loss at Utah and finished their circus road trip 1-5 after learning they’ll be without Kirk Hinrich for a week or two with a sprained left thumb.The Bulls took an 89-87 lead with just over three minutes to play before Jennings, Bogut and Charlie Bell, who finished with 16 points, all had layups to give the Bucks a 93-89 lead.Bogut then blocked two shots, swatting Deng on a dunk and turning aside a layup attempt by Rose. Salmons missed a 3 that would’ve tied it with 27 seconds left and a free throw by Delfino gave Milwaukee a 96-92 lead. Salmons hit a 3, Jennings answered with two free throws and Salmons dunked to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 98-97 before fouling Bell with 7.1 seconds to play.Bell hit the second of two free throws to finish 3 of 7 from the line and Rose decided to pass to Miller, whose shot just grazed the front of the rim from 18 feet as time expired.Why didn’t Rose drive all the way to the hoop and try to draw contact?

NOTESOTE—The Bulls host Ben Gordon and Detroit upon their return to the United Center Wednesday evening….Milwaukee blew a 15-point second-half lead in a loss to Orlando on Saturday night…..Bucks coach Scott Skiles said Jennings has had several tough shooting nights in a row, but said the rookie’s output is more “realistic” now after he made a splash by being the youngest person in NBA history to score at least 50 points when he scored 55 on Nov. 14 in a win over the Warriors…..The Bulls are 11-3 against Milwaukee since the start of the 2006-07 season.