IOWA CITY—Matt Gatens scored 16 points, Devan Bawinkel broke out of a scoring slump with a season-high 15 and Iowa snapped a four-game losing streak with a 78-65 victory over Northwestern on Wednesday night.Aaron Fuller added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Jarryd Cole also scored 13 for Iowa (9-16, 3-9 Big Ten), which delayed Northwestern’s bid for a school record-tying 17th regular-season victory.Juice Thompson’s 20 points led Northwestern (16-8, 5-7), while John Shurna scored 16. No one else had more than seven points for the Wildcats, who fell behind by 15 in the first half and never rallied.Bawinkel, who had scored only 12 points in the previous six games, hit four of his first five 3-point shots and finished 5-for-8 from long range. It was his first game in double figures since he scored 11 against Prairie View A&M on Dec. 5.With Bawinkel setting the pace, Iowa made 12 of 24 3-point shots against a team that entered the game leading the Big Ten in 3-point percentage defense (.290).Iowa shot better than 40 percent only once during its losing streak, but the Hawkeyes were sharp from the start in this one and never trailed. Gatens hit a 3-pointer less than 30 seconds into the game and the shots kept falling after that.The 78 points represented Iowa’s best total in a Big Ten game this season and the most since the Hawkeyes beat South Carolina State 82-69 on Dec. 21.The Hawkeyes built a 35-22 halftime lead and were up by as many as 19 late in the game. NU, sixth nationally in 3-point field goals at 9.3 per game, made just 3-of-12 from long range in the first half and finished 8-for-26.Bawinkel entered the game six minutes in and hit his first 3 at the 11:51 mark to give the Hawkeyes a 17-9 lead.He then knocked down three more 3s over the next 6 1/2 minutes, the last one putting Iowa up 28-18. Brennan Cougill’s 3-pointer from the top of the key capped a 7-2 run that increased the lead to 35-20 before Northwestern’s Mike Capocci scored on a put-back just ahead of the halftime buzzer.Northwestern got the lead under double figures only once in the second half, pulling to 40-31 on Shurna’s long 3. But Cully Payne, Gatens and Cougill answered with 3-pointers to return the momentum to the Hawkeyes and the Wildcats never made another serious run.Reserve Eric May hit a pair of 3s to put the Hawkeyes up 55-40. Cole’s three-point play ended a 9-2 burst that made it 64-45 with 5:15 to play.

An Earthquake that measured 4.3 on the Richter Scale hit of all places the Chicago area at one minute before 4am this morning. The Quake epicenter was confirmed to be near Sycamore which is just north of DeKalb. Several people all over Illinois and many in Wisconsin and Indiana confirmed feeling the quake on the Score. No immediate damage was reported. This was very light by comparison to the only quake I was ever in(1989 before the scheduled game 3 of the World Series between the Giants and A’s at Candlestick Park which was a 7.7,and had an epicenter at Santa Cruz,Ca). That quake shook light standards atop of Candlestick and many ballplayers,not to mention fans were scared beyond belief.That game of course was postponed for a good week,but the game in San Francisco,and elsewhere in the East Bay was significant.The New Madrid Fault in deep southern  Illinois had nothing to do with this quake.

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The Blackhawks got their second straight win following a season-high three-game losing streak. Patrick Kane had a pair for first-period goals, his team-best 23rd and 24th of the season.Kris Versteeg scored the only Shootout goal to win it in the bottom of the fifth frame. And backup goaltender Antti Niemi got the call for a second straight game and responded.Niemi, who had stops on Mike Modano and Brad Richards on the power play in overtime to preserve the tie, finished with 24 saves. He’s now 15-4-1.Dallas’ Loui Eriksson tied it at 3 with 3:50 left in regulation, scoring from just outside the crease following a turnover by Chicago.The Hawks had taken a 3-2 lead early in the final period on a goal by Troy Brouwer, who scored from the right circle after Marian Hossa fired the puck off the boards behind the net.Mike Ribeiro and James Neal also scored in regulation for the Stars. Turco had 37 saves for the Stars, who made a trade during the game in which they acquired goaltender Kari Lehtonen from Atlanta and sent defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft to the Thrashers.Returning after missing 15 games with a throat injury, Ribeiro scored on a power play in the first. Fabian Brunnstrom dug the puck out from the boards, slid it to Neal in the right circle and he made a diagonal pass to a wide-open Ribeiro for the score.The Blackhawks tied it when Kane skated into the left circle and wristed a shot right past Turco. Dallas got the lead back with just under two minutes to go in the opening period when Neal scored his team-high 24th goal on a rebound.But Kane answered quickly, circling from behind the net and ripping another shot from the right circle that eluded Turco to make it 2-2.Turco preserved the tie in the second with a sprawling save of an attempt by Dustin Byfuglien on a breakaway with just over two minutes to go in the period.

NOTES—Ribeiro was accidentally struck in the throat by the stick of New York’s Christopher Higgins in the Rangers’ 5-2 victory on Jan. 6. He spent several days in a New York hospital after undergoing a tracheotomy. He was activated from injured reserve Monday … Stars forward Steve Ott was scratched after an emergency appendectomy Monday. … On a snowy night in Chicago, the crowd was announced at 21,446 – the Blackhawks 80th consecutive sellout at the United Center.

INDIANAPOLIS—A dominant fourth quarter helped the Bulls in their quest to build momentum heading into the All-Star break.Luol Deng had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and the Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers 109-101 on Tuesday night, outscoring Indiana 28-15 in the final 12 minutes.The Pacers shot 33 percent in the fourth quarter of their final game before the break.It was the Bulls second consecutive win after three straight losses. The Bulls (25-25) will play Orlando in the United Center on Wednesday with a chance to move above .500. Derrick Rose and John Salmons each scored 21 points for the Bulls. Kirk Hinrich scored 17 points, and Brad Miller added 13.Danny Granger had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Troy Murphy had 18 points and 16 rebounds and Earl Watson added 14 points and six assists for the Pacers.The Bulls shot 51 percent from the field. Salmons, a reserve, did his part by shooting 7-for-10. The Bulls hung tough on the boards without center Joakim Noah. The league’s No. 3 rebounder with 12 per game was not with the team because of a left foot injury. Miller, a former Pacer, started in his place. Indiana shot just 33 percent in the fourth quarter and blew a five-point lead. Watson said the Pacers started struggling when the pace slowed.The Bulls trailed the entire second half until a 3-point play by Rose, then a two-handed jam by Taj Gibson tied the score at 92 with seven minutes to go. Rose closed out the 9-0 run with a long jumper from the top of the key that gave the Bulls a 96-92 lead. A dunk by Deng with 1:56 to play extended the lead to 103-97, and the Bulls led by at least five points the rest of the way.Rose was a step ahead of the Pacers all night.Watson drained a 40-foot shot as time expired on the shot clock 2.6 seconds before halftime. The bucket gave the Pacers a 60-57 lead at the break.A 3-pointer by Granger gave the Pacers a 69-63 lead early in the third quarter, and a 3 by Brandon Rush increased the lead to 73-63.The Bulls recovered quickly. A runner by Rose cut Indiana’s lead to 77-75 late in the quarter, but the Pacers hung on to lead 86-81 at the end of the period.Defense, and poor shooting by the Pacers, won it for the Bulls at the end.

NOTES—Army PFC Alex Hughes proposed to Lindsey Smith on the court between the first and second quarters. … Pacers C Jeff Foster will have season-ending back surgery after the All-Star break. … Pacers F Tyler Hansbrough sat out again with an inner ear infection, but O’Brien was hopeful he would return soon after the All-Star break. … Gibson committed his second foul with 9:42 left in the first quarter.

MADISON—Illinoiscelebrated with all its fans on Saturday. The cheers coming from the Illini locker room on Tuesday night were even sweeter.Demetri McCamey scored 27 points and Mike Tisdale added 19 on 8-of-11 shooting to lead Illinois to a 63-56 upset over No. 11 Wisconsin, snapping the Badgers’ 51-0 home record against unranked Big Ten opponents under coach Bo Ryan.The Illini (17-8, 9-3) ended Wisconsin’s 18-game home winning streak, but more important, Illinois won its fifth straight game after a 78-73 win over then-No. 5 Michigan State last weekend that featured fans rushing the court.This one was so much better because the Illini are now in prime position to challenge the Spartans for the regular-season conference crown.The schedule isn’t easy for Illinois, which plays four more ranked teams in its final six games, including two games with No. 13 Ohio State beginning at home on Sunday and a rematch with the Badgers in the regular-season finale.It was a shock for Wisconsin (18-6, 8-4), which got 15 points from Jason Bohannon, 13 in the second half, and 12 from Trevon Hughes. The Badgers are 133-11 under Ryan at home and hadn’t lost to any unranked opponent in more than four years.The Badgers built a 22-11 lead while only Tisdale could find the basket, hitting every field goal for the Illini until just over six minutes to play in the first half.McCamey, the Big Ten player of the week for his performances against Iowa and the Spartans, scored 15 of Illinois’ final 20 points of the half and the Illini hit 10 consecutive shots straddling halftime to erase the double-digit deficit.Instead, McCamey and his teammates kept clicking and finally broke through late after Wisconsin tied it at 53-all with 5:16 left on a 3-pointer by Bohannon.D.J. Richardson and McCamey answered with jumpers to push the lead to 57-53, and Wisconsin went cold, going scoreless for five minutes. The Badgers missed nine consecutive shots down the stretch, including a layup by Jordan Taylor with just over two minutes to play and 3s by Keaton Nankivil, Taylor, Hughes and Bohannon.McCamey hit one free throw with 58 seconds left and Richardson added two more 16 seconds later to give Illinois a 60-53 lead. Wisconsin went up 22-11 on a four-point play by Hughes, while the 7-1 Tisdale hit six of his first seven shots. His teammates, meanwhile, missed 10 in a row until McCamey’s layup with just over six minutes left until halftime. McCamey went on to hit three consecutive 3-pointers to end the half, rallying the Illini perhaps for the rest of the season.

PEORIA—Jackie Carmichael scored 12 points, including a rebound basket with 49 seconds to play for the game’s final points as Illinois State rallied to defeat Bradley 62-61 Tuesday night.The Redbirds (17-8, 8-6), who remained in a tie for third in the Missouri Valley with the victory, trailed almost all the way and were down by as many as 14 points late in the first half. The Braves (12-12, 7-7) scored the first nine points of the game and led 35-25 at the break.Dinma Odiakosa had 12 points and 15 rebounds for Illinois State, and Austin Hill led the Redbirds with 14 points. The win gave Illinois State its first season sweep of Bradley in eight years.Sam Maniscalco led all scorers with 17 points for Bradley. Taylor Brown added 13 points.

MIAMI—There have been a few exciting Super Bowls here in South Florida,dating back to Superbowl III(Joe Namath and his Jets upsetting the Baltimore Colts in the Orange Bowl),and the now Indianapolis Colts tasted an upset defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Saints,who were in their first ever Super Bowl. Game MVP Drew Brees hit Jeremy Shockey with a 2 yard TD pass with 5:42 left in the game and that put the Saints ahead for good in their 31-17 upset win over the Colts. What followed would trigger a huge party on Bourbon Street in the Big Easy that lasted throughout the night. After Shockey’s TD made it 22-17, the Saints went for two points and Brees’s pass to Lance Moore was first ruled to be incomplete,but Sean Payton threw the red flag for what would be the only review of the game,and the call was reversed,so New Orleans took a 24-17 lead. Peyton Manning drove his team down the field in search of the tying TD, but he had a pass picked off by Tracy Porter,who took it 74 yards to seal the Colts fate. Indianapolis moved the ball well in the first quarter,but had to settle for a 38 yard Matt Stover field goal before Manning finished a 96 yard,11 play drive with a 19 yard strike to Pierre Garcon. The Saints got on the board with a Garrett Hartley 46 yard field goal. They next drove to the Indy 1, but on fourth down, Pierre Thomas was stopped. The Colts could not run out the clock and had to punt,and the Saints in turn got 44 yard field goal from Hartley,and it was 10-6 at halftime. After The Who’s performance, the Saints pulled off a Coup d’état when punter Thomas Morestead sent an onside kick that the Saints Jonathan Casillas recovered at his own 42. Brees took advantage of that quick break,and it took 6 plays before he hit Thomas for a 16 yard score as the former Illini start broke three tackles en route.The Saints led for the first time 13-10,but Manning wasn’t done yet. In 5:26 and 10 plays,Joseph Addi,who torched the Bears three years ago, broke free for a 4 yard score to give Indy the lead back 17-13,but amazingly,the Colts would not score again. The Saints got a third field goal from Hartley with 2:01 to go in the third quarter and the Colts clinged to a 17-16 lead. The fourth quarter belonged to the Saints who pulled off the upset.

NOTES—Brees completed his last ten passes, he finished 32-39 for 288 yards,2 TD’s, and a passer rating of 114.5 …..Manning was 31-45 for 333 yards, 1 TD 1 huge interception and a passer rating of 88.5…..New Orleans set a Super Bowl record by overcoming the largest deficit by a winning team(ten points).

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An unlikely duo helped the Phoenix Coyotes extend their winning streak to a season-high six games. Stay-at-home defenseman Adrian Aucoin scored the deciding goal in the shootout for the second straight game to give Phoenix a 2-1 victory over the Backhawks.Meanwhile, backup goalie Jason LaBarbera made 28 saves through overtime, then stopped two of three Blackhawks in the shootout in his ninth start and 12th appearance this season.Frmer Hawk, RobertL Lang also connected in the shootout, and Radim Vrbata scored late in the second period for the Coyotes, whose streak is their longest since they won seven in a row midway through the 2006-07 season. Phoenix is 9-2-0 in its last 11.Acoin, a 36-year-old former Blackhawk, had connected on his only previous shootout attempt this season, in the 10th round of the Coyotes’ 1-0 win at Nashville on Tuesday night. On Friday, Tippett called on Aucoin to shoot in the third round, with the extra session tied at 1.With the win, surging Phoenix improved to 75 points and moved past Los Angeles into fourth place in the Western Conference.LaBarbera backstopped the victory.Ilya Bryzgalov, the Coyotes’ No. 1 goalie, got the night off and is expected to start Saturday in Dallas. He was in the net in Phoenix’s shootout win over Nashville, making 25 saves through overtime and nine of 10 in the shootout.Colin Fraser scored in the first period for the Blackhawks, who have lost three straight for the first time this season. Jonathan Toews connected for the Hawks in the shootout.Joel Quenneville credited the Coyotes for shutting down his team, while adding the Blackhawks needed to battle through Phoenix’s tight game plan.The Blackhawks started strong on Friday, dominating the first period. But Fraser’s goal 4:46 in was the only score in the first, and was just the fourth-line center’s second this season and first since Dec. 29.After LaBarbera made a pad save on Duncan Keith’s drive from the top of the slot, Fraser fired the rebound over LaBarbera’s glove from the right circle.Fraser had been a healthy scratch for the first time this season in the Blackhawks’ previous game, a 3-2 home loss to St. Louis on Wednesday night.The Blackhawks missed on two point-blank chances late in the first. LaBarbera stopped Troy Brouwer from the right edge of the crease with two minutes left. About a minute later, John Madden misfired from the same spot, despite plenty of open net. Vrbata was credited with a power-play goal with 3:17 left in the second that tied it at 1, and came moments after LaBarbera stopped Marian Hossa on a short-handed breakaway. Vrbata fired low shot from above the left circle with Petr Prucha parked in front of the crease. The puck appeared to deflect before flipping past Huet.The Hawks killed a double-minor high-sticking penalty to Cam Barker early in the scoreless third, allowing just one shot during the advantage. Phoenix’s Zbynek Michalek was sent off for tripping Dave Bolland at 4:13 of overtime. LaBarbera made sharp saves on Keith and a rebound by Patrick Kane with 29 seconds left.

NOTES—The crowd of 22,169 was the Blackhawks’ largest this season and their 79th straight sellout….Jordan Hendry and RW Tomas Kopecky were healthy scratches, as were Phoenix D Anders Eriksson and C Joel Perrault.

ATLANTA—Josh Smith posted his second career triple-double and the Atlanta Hawks recovered in the fourth quarter to beat the Bulls 91-81 on Friday night.Smith had 18 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists as the Hawks recovered after trailing by six to open the final period. The Hawks took the lead with two 8-0 runs in the fourth.Joe Johnson had 18 points and Jamal Crawford added 17 for Atlanta.Smih set up a jumper by Mike Bibby with 2:13 remaining for his 10th assist, matching his career high.Luol Deng had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Derrick Rose scored 19 points for the Bulls, who lost their third straight.

FT.LAUDERDALE—***The Who,taking a page out of what Prince did here in South Florida,not only held their Super Bowl Half Time News Conference at the Broward County Convention Center,but in the compact ballroom, they JAMMED. Pete Townsend and Roger Daltry performed BEHIND BLUE EYES, PINBALL WIZARD and WE WON’T BE FOOLED AGAIN in order. No word if any of those three will be performed Sunday night.

***Townsend was asked about his recent child abuse incident,and answered it without issue.

***Pre Game performers Queen Latifa and Carrie Underwood spoke for as few minutes prior to the Who.

***The early week rains have moved out and temperatures are expected to reach 80* Friday,but dip to a high water mark of 68 on Super Bowl Sunday.Rain is not in Sunday’s forecast.

***Friday is “Commissioner’s Day” as Roger Godell will hold his annual State of the NFL news conference and Friday night is the Commissioner’s Party which is always a tough ticket. We’ll have a review on both Saturday.

***Richard Dent learns Saturday if he gets into the Pro Football Hallof Fame.

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