MILWAUKEE—James Eayrs had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Wisconsin-Milwaukee defeated UIC 73-67 in the first round of the Horizon League tournament Tuesday night.The fourth-seeded Panthers (19-13) won their sixth straight game and advance to a second-round contest Friday in Indianapolis against fifth seed Cleveland State, which defeated Loyola 80-66.Lonnie Boga and Anthony Hill also scored 12 points for Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Boga had nine rebounds as the Panthers outrebounded the Flames 47-34.Ricky Franklin scored the first five points of the second half to give the Panthers a 40-35 lead they never relinquished. Franklin finished with nine points.Ninth-seeded UIC (8-22) lost to Milwaukee for the third time this season, including 78-74 last Saturday night. Robo Kreps scored 20 points to lead the Flames.

CLEVELAND—Norris Cole scored 15 points, dished out 11 assists and had four steals to lead Cleveland State to an 80-66 win over Loyola on Tuesday night in the first round of the Horizon League tournament.Aaron Pogue finished with 13 points and seven rebounds for the fifth-seeded Vikings (16-16), the defending tournament champions. Cleveland State will play Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the second round.Jeremy Montgomery scored 11 points and D’Aundray Brown added 10 for Cleveland State.The Vikings didn’t have much trouble with the eighth-seeded Ramblers (14-16), building a 42-22 lead with 2:12 left in the first half on a layup by Anthony Wells.Walt Gibler’s two free throws trimmed Cleveland State’s lead to 57-52 with eight minutes to play. But the Vikings answered with seven straight points to extend Loyola’s losing streak to five games.

Whether he was selected or not, Josh Smith is playing like an All-Star. Smith scored 17 points with a season-high 18 rebounds, Jamal Crawford scored 21 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the short-handed Bulls 116-92 on Monday night for their fourth win in five games.He didn’t do it alone, though.Marvin Williams had 18 points as Atlanta pulled away down the stretch after its 18-point, second-quarter lead dwindled to five early in the fourth.Williams scored seven points during a 9-0 run following a basket by Derrick Rose, making it 94-79 midway through the fourth quarter and breaking open a six-point game.Rose led the Bulls with 24 points despite missing most of the first quarter after hurting his right knee. But it was a long night for a team that had won eight of 11.Smith delivered his fourth straight double-double for the Hawks, after getting 22 points and 15 rebounds the previous night in an overtime win over Milwaukee.The Hawks outrebounded the Bulls 63-37. Al Horford added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks. Joe Johnson scored 14 points, 12 in the first quarter as the Hawks grabbed a 34-23 lead, after getting nine during the overtime against the Bucks.Already missing center Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis in his left foot) and forward Luol Deng (swollen left knee), the Bulls got a big scare 4½ minutes into the game.Rose, who banged his left knee late in Saturday’s game at Indiana, came up clutching his right one after Atlanta’s Mike Bibby collided with him while trying to pick off a pass.The Bulls simply couldn’t afford to lose another top player, but even when Rose came back, they had trouble sustaining a run for much of the game against the Eastern Conference’s third-place team.It was a tough start to a brutal stretch for the Bulls, who host Memphis, Dallas and Utah before visiting Orlando, Miami, Memphis and Dallas. When they return to the United Center on March 19, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be there to greet them.It would help if they had their second-leading scorer (Deng) and top rebounder (Noah). Without them, the Bulls were overmatched up front.With two top players out and Rose missing time in the early going, the Hawks stayed in control for most of the game. They led by 18 in the second quarter and never were threatened until late in the third, when the Bulls started an 8-2 run. A short jumper by Jannero Pargo and a fast-break layup by Flip Murray off a steal made it 75-68. Pargo then started the fourth quarter with an 18-footer, and after a jump hook by Horford, Hakim Warrick scored to make it 77-72.

NOTES—Noah does not expect to be back this week but hopes to be “able to play when it matters,” even if he’s not 100 percent. He missed seven straight games at one point in February because of his foot problem. … Del Negro expects Deng to return Thursday against Memphis. James Johnson started in his place and had nine points. … Taj Gibson had 13 rebounds…. Atlanta’s 63 rebounds were a season-high.

***The Olympic Hockey Gold Medal Game was certainly spectacular. Canada knows they were in a battle,and the USA proved they were one of the top two teams in the tournament. The Americans handed the Canadians their only loss and they can credit one of the Referees(for getting in the way of a clearing pass that led to Sidney Crosby’s game winner)as well as NHL Commissioner Gary “Beavis” Bettman for assisting them. Bettman is a reason the NHL instituted the ridiculous four on four in overtime,and you can bet he had plenty to do with the IOC putting this stupid gimmick into the Olympics as well. This should have been five and five. Who knows? maybe Canada still ends up winning, but it’s a lousy thing to use a gimmick for something as big as the Olympic Gold Medal Game. My hope is that Bettman doesn’t try to add four and four or a shootout for Stanley Cup play some day.

***Now Patrick Kane will be reunited with Jonathan Toews,Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith Tuesday night when the Hawks face the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky of Slovakia also rejoin their Blackhawk mates. Re-establishing chemistry etc will be important for the Hawks who right now are the #3 overall seed(#2 in the West behind San Jose).

***While Roberto Luongo and his Canada mates won the Gold, it was no surprise to see him looking shaky and give up the tying goal late in the third period after he failed to glove the puck seconds earlier,thus allowing the Americans Zack Parise to tie it. And Mikka Kuprusoff was shelled by the US on Friday. The Hawks made both look bad in last spring’s Playoffs. They will be Luongo Friday at the United Center when the Canucks invade.

***Every time the Bulls look like they will have a good chance to get the #5 seed for the playoffs,they have a lousy game against a crappy opponent. They lost to a horrible Washington Wizards team last week and then Saturday they wet the bed in Indianapolis against a Pacers team they should never lose to.

***Now that the NFL’s overrated Combine is over “let me make this perfectly clear”(Richard M.Nixon quote). The combine is nothing more than a circle jerk that proves zero! These scouts look for athletes, not paying attention to whether these guys are FOOTBALL PLAYERS!  The Bears have been burned for years by this stupid event.

***Also a joke(and something that should be discontinued-no matter what any Coaches of GM’s say)-is the so called ORGANIZED TEAM ACTIVITIES or O.T.A.s that are supposed to be VOLUNTARY but they are not. Ask Alex Brown of the Bears who was demoted to third string two years ago when he didn’t show at the OTA. Mark Anderson was elevated to first string. And how did that work?

***Also, I like Jerry Angelo personally,and that goes for just about everyone in the Bears organization. But it was a HORRIBLE president  for Jerry to hold a Media Session with no recorders allowed for Radio Reporters. This was giving the Print Media a VERY UNFAIR advantage.  I hope this wasn’t done in case someone wanted to say that a quote was taken out of context. With no recordings, that claim would be easy to make with no way to prove otherwise. If no recorders are allowed, then DON’T HOLD THE NEWS CONFERENCE!

LES