Luol Deng might lead the NBA in scoring if the Bulls played the Trail Blazers more often.Deng scored a career-high 40 points to lead the Bulls to a 110-98 victory over Portland on Monday night. Deng’s previous career best of 38 points, on March 26, 2007, also came against the Trail Blazers.Deng scored 16 points in the first and third quarters and shot 14-of-19 from the floor in the game. He passed his previous career high a 3-pointer from the corner with 5:48 to play. The shot put the Bulls up 101-84.Derrick Rose, who entered the game as the NBA’s leading scorer, added 16 points and 13 assists for Chicago (2-1). The assist total matched his previous career high set against Utah last March.The Blazers entered the game 3-0, with all three of their victories coming as a result of fourth-quarter comebacks. Portland outscored opponents 85-49 in the final quarters of its first three games, but were unable to mount a sustained rally against the Bulls.Portland climbed out of a nine-point hole with a 17-3 run to finish its game in New York on Friday night. This time, reserves Dante Cunningham and Armon Johnson scored on layups on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to nine with 3:51 to play.Was another rally in the offing? Not this time. Kyle Korver’s 3-pointer with 3:01 to play put the Bulls up 105-92 and the Blazers weren’t able to get closer than 12 points after that.LaMarcus Aldridge scored a season-high 33 points for Portland (3-1), almost single-handedly keeping the Blazers in the game through three quarters. Aldridge was originally drafted by the Bulls in 2006 but was traded the same day in a deal that sent fellow draftee Tyrus Thomas to Chicago.Aldridge surpassed his previous season best of 20 points in the first half, during which he scored 22 points.Brandon Roy added 17 points for the Blazers on 4-of-12 shooting.Deng scored 16 points in the first quarter, much of it coming in transition, where Bulls outscored the Blazers 12-0 and built a 32-21 lead.The Blazers entered the game as the NBA’s top three-point shooting team, but went 0-for-3 from there in the opening period and 0-of-14 in the game.Joakim Noah, who entered the game as the NBA’s top rebounder in the season’s early going, had 10 points and 10 rebounds in 42 minutes, but this night belonged to Deng.

NOTES—The Bulls held a moment of silence for former Blazers player and assistant coach Maurice Lucas, who passed away Sunday night after a battle with bladder cancer…..Tom Thibodeau said injured forward Carlos Boozer is expected to have the cast removed from his broken right hand on Tuesday. Boozer injured the hand in a fall at his apartment on Oct. 2. A timetable has not yet been established for his return to the court…..Rose was averaging 33.5 points in the first two contests. The last pure point guard to lead the league in scoring was Nate Archibald, who averaged 34.0 points per game for the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in the 1972-73 season.

ARLINGTON—Madison Bumgarner dominated for eight innings, Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey homered and the San Francisco Giants put on a fielding clinic in Game 4, beating Texas 4-0 on Sunday night to move within one win of that elusive World Series title.Dressed in black-and-orange, the Giants were spooky good in taking a 3-1 edge. Bumgarner allowed only three hits and took all the fun out of a festive, Halloween crowd.Ace Tim Lincecum will try Monday night to deliver the Giants’ first championship since they moved to San Francisco in 1958. Now it’s up to Cliff Lee to save the Rangers’ season in Game 5.The 21-year-old Bumgarner and closer Brian Wilson helped the Giants become the first team to post two shutouts in a World Series since Baltimore threw three straight to close out the Dodgers in 1966.Huff’s two-run homer in the third gave Bumgarner all the support he needed. Posey added a solo shot in the eighth — Bumgarner and Posey became the first rookie battery to start in the Series since Spec Shea and Yogi Berra for the Yankees in 1947.Even though Bumgarner got relief help, it was a complete game for the Giants. Andres Torres and Edgar Renteria each got three hits and their teammates made almost every play in the field.Make it great D in Big D.Left fielder Cody Ross came up with a shoestring catch, second baseman Freddy Sanchez made a leaping grab and Posey threw out Josh Hamilton trying to steal. Bumgarner helped himself, too, knocking down Hamilton’s scorcher up the middle.Coming off a 4-2 win Saturday night, the Rangers and their fans were ready to even this Series. Earlier in the day, about a quarter-mile away at Cowboys Stadium, Dallas dropped to 1-6 with a 35-17 loss to Jacksonsville. Two little boys held up signs inside that read: “Hurry Up Cowboys … I Have a Rangers Game to go to.” Bumgarner didn’t permit a runner past first base until the seventh. Facing his only jam, he retired Ian Kinsler on a fly ball to strand two runners and preserve a 3-0 lead.Bumgarner struck out Vladimir Guerrero three times, the first time the star Texas designated hitter had done that this season.Wilson closed with a hitless ninth.The Giants tweaked their lineup, benching strikeout machine Pat Burrell and making Huff the DH for the first time this season. Bochy put Nate Schierholtz in right field and Travis Ishikawa at first base — fine fielders, not great hitters. That’s more the NL way, where spare bats rarely grow on the bench.Washington came off his bench twice to discuss calls with first base umpire Jeff Kellogg. Both plays were bang-bang, and replays seemed to show both were misses that went against the Rangers.Thwarted early, the Giants took a 2-0 lead in the third on Huff’s homer. Torres led off with a grounder that hit the first-base bag, kicked up and rolled into the corner for a double. Sanchez failed to advance him and was still shouting at himself down in the dugout tunnel when Huff hit a long drive to right.Huff homered on the 62nd pitch overall from Hunter, who tossed strikes but couldn’t throw the ball past anyone. Alexi Ogando began warming up in the Texas bullpen in the third and replaced Hunter in the fifth.Ogando set down five straight batters, then bounced a breaking ball to the sixth and immediately grabbed his left side. A trainer went to the mound, Ogando came out and Darren Oliver relieved.The Giants took an aggressive approach from the get-go. After Torres led off the game with an infield single, Bochy ordered up a bunt, hit-and-run and a steal – all with Sanchez at the plate. Hamilton kept things scoreless in the Giants second. The All-Star center fielder charged hard to make a diving, backhanded catch on a blooper by Schierholtz that stranded runners at the corners.

NOTES—At 21, Bumgarner became the fifth-youngest pitcher to start in a World Series. Bullet Joe Bush was 20 for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1913. … Hunter has not gotten past the fourth inning in any of his three postseason starts. He went 13-4 during the regular season. … Huff hit his first homer since Sept. 25. … Hunter fielded Renteria’s bat after it slipped out of his hands and slithered to the mound in the second. Hunter politely handed it back to Renteria. … Ishikawa, making his first start since Aug. 14, scraped his chin making a headfirst dive into third base.

Derrick Rose matched a career high with 39 points and the Bulls staged a big rally to beat the Detroit Pistons 101-91 on Saturday night.The Bulls trailed by 21 early in the third quarter and was still down 86-73 about three minutes into the fourth when it went on a 19-2 run to pull out a dramatic win in the home opener.Rose was serenaded by “MVP! MVP!” chants down the stretch, and he certainly played like one, scoring eight in the final period, but he had help.Joakim Noah had 15 points and 17 rebounds. Taj Gibson scored 11. James Johnson wound up with eight points and nine rebounds, and the Bulls delivered in the end after coming up short down the stretch in the opener against Oklahoma City.They overcame a spectacular first half by former Bulls star Ben Gordon, who scored all of his 21 points before intermission, and held the Pistons to 4-of-21 shooting in the fourth, making them 0-3 for the first time since they dropped the first four games of the 1999-2000 season.The Pistons carried an 82-67 lead into the fourth after Charlie Villanueva’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer and were still ahead by 13 before C.J. Watson hit a jumper to start the decisive run.In the fourth period,Detroit couldn’t hit water of they fell out of a boat.Johnson nailed a 3 to tie it at 86 with five minutes left, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. A basket by Richard Hamilton briefly put the Pistons back on top, but the Bulls weren’t finished.Gibson hit a fadeaway to tie it again. Noah gave the Bulls their first lead since the first quarter when he tipped in Rose’s missed drive with 2:37 left, and Rose added two free throws to make it 92-88 20 seconds later.

ST. PAUL—Though they have started slowly after several changes to last season’s championship roster, the Blackhawks still know how to find that winning edge.Marty Turco bounced back from a benching with 25 saves, Troy Brouwer moved up to the top line and got a goal and an assist, and the Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Saturday.The Blackhawks (7-5-1) have a big target on their backs this season, too, and particularly while Marian Hossa sits out with an upper body injury they’re missing some of that Stanley Cup swagger. They’ve still got a lot of young talent, though, starting with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.Coming off a woeful home performance, a 7-4 loss on Friday to Edmonton from which Turco was pulled after allowing four goals on 12 shots in the first period, the Blackhawks put together a complete effort and made sure to finish off the Wild after taking a 2-0 lead.Brouwer came through with 30 seconds left in the second period when he grabbed one of several big rebounds Niklas Backstrom gave up and moved it from his backhand to his forehand. He caught Backstrom too far forward for an easy tap-in and a 1-0 lead.After Duncan Keith nudged in a wraparound shot that Backstrom couldn’t get a clean look at, the Blackhawks led 2-0 early in the third period. Turco let in a late goal by Marek Zidlicky on a nifty one-touch pass from Mikko Koivu, but Jake Dowell added an empty-netter at the end and Turco held strong after the brief lapse.Backstrom, who blanked Washington for 58-plus minutes on Thursday, kept the Wild in it for most of the first two periods. He made a diving stop of a wraparound shot by Toews with his glove and recovered in time to deny a rebound shot by Brouwer. Backstrom had a little good luck, too, when Sharp’s shot clanked off the pipe right at the end of a Blackhawks power play.For Minnesota center John Madden, the 37-year-old third-liner with three Cup championship rings, this was his first on-ice chance to reunite with last season’s teammates after leaving the Hawks as a free agent. So he knows what they’ve got.The Blackhawks scratched C Dave Bolland for the first time this season. He has an upper-body injury.

ROSEMONT—The Wolves erased an early two-goal deficit with three unanswered goals and held on for a 3-2 victory against the Rockford IceHogs at the Allstate Arena Saturday night.Defensemen Mike Siklenka and Jaime Sifers and left wing Nigel Dawes provided the scoring for the Wolves (5-4-1-0), while goaltender Peter Mannino turned aside 22 of 24 shots in his first start of the season.Siklenka put the Wolves on top, 3-2, with a power-play goal – the eventual game-winner – at 10:48 of the third period. Right wing Darren Haydar took a shot, collected his own rebound, carried the puck behind the net and slipped a backhanded pass out to Siklenka in front, where the blueliner rifled it to the far side to put the Wolves ahead for the first time.The IceHogs jumped out to 1-0 lead at 13:01 of the first period. Center Brandon Pirri worked a give-and-go with defenseman Nick Leddy as they drove into the Wolves zone and Pirri finished off the play, depositing a shot past Mannino (1-0-0).Rockford (4-4-0-1) pulled ahead, 2-0, when Leddy banged a shot from the blueline that zipped past Mannino’s glove side, 17:08 into the first frame.Dawes got the Wolves on the board, 13:21 into the second period to make the score 2-1. Dawes and Haydar broke out on a two-on-one and Haydar set Dawes up with a centering pass for a quick flip past IceHogs netminder Alec Richards.The Wolves tied it up, 2-2, with 63 seconds remaining in the second period with a goal from Sifers. Center Jared Ross fired a shot down the slot, which Richards got a piece of but fumbled, and Sifers came crashing in and pushed it over the line before the netminder could regain control of the bouncing puck.Richards (3-2-0) thwarted 26 shots for the IceHogs,the farm club of the Blackhawks.The Wolves embark on a season-high eight game road trip next week, beginning with a visit to Quicken Loans Arena to take on the Lake Erie Monsters on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

ARLINGTON—Hey, you Longhorns, Aggies and Horned Frogs.Colby Lewis and the Texas Rangers threw the biggest tailgate party of them all, beating San Francisco 4-2 on Saturday night and cutting the Giants’ edge in the World Series to 2-1.Rookie Mitch Moreland hit an early three-run homer, Josh Hamilton later launched a 426-foot shot and the Rangers became the first team from Texas to win a Series game.Game 3 marked the first time the Series visited the Metroplex. On a college football weekend, the parking lots filled up early with flying pigskins and fine BBQ smoke.But Lewis and the Rangers showed there was still a place in the Lone Star State for baseball, too. And they certainly brought more joy than the Cowboys, whose gleaming stadium is just a few Hamilton-sized drives.Big Tex himself, Nolan Ryan, got former President and Rangers Owner George W. Bush and the rest of the sellout crowd jazzed when he cranked up for the ceremonial first toss. The Rangers’ part-owner brought his heater — at 68 mph, pretty swift for a 63-year-old guy wearing dress pants and a tie.Then it was time for Lewis to take over. He worked around solo home runs by Cody Ross in the seventh inning and Andres Torres in the eighth. The Giants eventually brought the tying run to the plate, but reliever Darren O’Day retired Buster Posey to end the eighth.Texas manager Ron Washington finally brought in Neftali Feliz in the ninth, and the rocket-armed closer earned his first save of the postseason. Washington was criticized in the first two games at San Francisco for leaving Feliz in the bullpen while the Giants broke away.No team in World Series history has overcome a 3-0 deficit and now Texas won’t have to try, either. Rangers starter Tommy Hunter, especially good at home, faces rookie Madison Bumgarner in Game 4 on Sunday night.Lewis picked up where he left off in the AL championship series, where he finished off the defending champion Yankees in Game 6.Lewis allowed five hits in 7 2/3 innings and struck out six. He stopped a Giants team that had become the first NL team to score at least nine runs in back-to-back Series game.The Rangers looked more like themselves with Vladimir Guerrero back in the DH spot.Moreland, promoted to the majors in late July, won a tough at-bat against Jonathan Sanchez with a three-run homer in the second on the ninth pitch.Feliz stuck out two in a perfect ninth, setting off a big celebration. Bush leaned over and kissed Ryan’s wife as fireworks exploded overhead.At a burly 6-foot-4, Lewis is built something like a fullback. He sure scored big for the Lone Star State in this one.Lewis is a below-.500 pitcher for his career, not including the two seasons he recently spent pitching for Hiroshima in the Japan league. Despite a shaky record, he’s known for this trait: He gets tougher in tight situations.Lewis escaped a two-on jam in the first by getting Pat Burrell to fish for a breaking ball, and worked around a leadoff walk to Ross in the second.The next time he got on the mound, he already had a nice cushion.Nelson Cruz opened the Texas second with a double off the center-field wall and eighth-place hitter Bengie Molina drew a walk. It was trouble time for Sanchez – he owned the best hits-to-innings ratio in the NL this year, yet also led the league in walks and can unravel quickly.Moreland hung in, fouling off four straight 2-2 pitches and barely getting a piece on a couple of them. He then took a smooth swing sent a liner far into the right-field seats for his first career home run against a left-hander.It was the big hit the Rangers needed to get back into the Series. The crowd roared and Ryan stood up, thrust his right arm in the air and hollered.Hamilton gave his boss another thrill in the fifth. A bit jumpy at the plate early in the game, the probable AL MVP patiently waited for his pitch and launched a drive deep into the lower deck in right-center field.Sanchez, who got just six outs against Philadelphia in his previous start, gave up four runs, six hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings, raising his ERA to 4.05 in four postseason starts. He was replaced by Guillermo Mota, who had started warming up in the third.

NOTES—The Rangers had lost 13 of their previous 14 games against the Giants. … Texas teams were 0-6 in the Series until this game. The Houston Astros were swept by the White Sox in 2005.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Dan Persa and the Northwestern offense confounded Indiana all day – even when Persa wasn’t making things happen.The junior quarterback threw two touchdown passes Saturday before leaving midway through the fourth quarter with an apparent concussion, and backup Evan Watkins set up a long field goal that helped the Wildcats hold on for a 20-17 victory at Indiana.Northwestern (6-2, 2-2 Big Ten) has now won six straight road games and is bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive season.The reeling Hoosiers (4-4, 0-4) have lost four of their last five overall and nine straight conference games.Saturday’s contest was hyped as a showdown between the league’s No. 1 and No. 2 passing quarterbacks, Ben Chappell and Persa, but Persa clearly outplayed the Indiana senior.Persa finished 18 of 28 for 212 yards and ran 11 times for 19 yards before leaving with 8:53 left in the game.Chappell was 30 of 54 for 308 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for a score, but he missed receivers high and long most of the day and the Hoosiers’ usually high-scoring offense never got in sync.That’s not how things started, though.Chappell took the Hoosiers 61 yards on their opening possession before settling for a field goal from Mitch Ewald, and the defense forced punts on each of NU’s first three possessions.The Hoosiers appeared to have stopped Northwestern a fourth straight when they finally sacked Persa. But Mick Mentzer’s face mask penalty extended the drive, and three plays later, Persa connected with Jeremy Ebert for an 11-yard TD pass early in the second quarter.Chappell took Indiana on a 16-play, 97-yard drive late in the first half, running the final 5 yards himself and twisting his way into the end zone – a play that stood up to replay review. That gave IU a 10-7 lead with 48 seconds left in the half.It didn’t last long.When Persa scrambled out of trouble on the ensuing possession, he found Mike Trumpy for a 38-yard pass down the right sideline. Two plays later, Persa got away from the pressure again, and Demetrius Fields made a one-handed stab for a 23-yard reception. Fields took the ball to the Indiana 6 with 1 second left, and Stefan Demos made a field goal to tie it at 10.Persa went back to work in the second half. On the Wildcats first possession, he converted on third-and-10 and third-and-2 before beating the Indiana secondary with a perfect 30-yard TD pass to Ebert on third-and-15 for a 17-10 lead.Persa left with 8:53 to go in the game and Watkins’ first completion got the Wildcats into position for a 45-yard field goal that gave NU a 20-10 lead with 6:51 left.Indiana didn’t score again until Chappell’s 39-yard TD pass to Duwyce Wilson with 44 seconds to go.The Hoosiers’ onside kick didn’t go 10 yards, and the Wildcats ran out the clock.Trumpy carried 21 times for 110 yards and Ebert finished with five catches for 98 yards.Damarlo Belcher led Indiana with 11 catches for 87 yards.

SOUTH BEND—John Flanders intercepted a pass in the end zone with 36 seconds left, stopping Notre Dame‘s final drive Saturday as Tulsa pulled off one of the biggest wins in school history, stunning the Irish 28-27.G.J. Kinne hit a 31-yard pass to Ricky Johnson on a third-and-26 and also connected on a 32-yarder to Genesis Cole to set up Kevin Fitzpatrick’s 27-yard field goal with 3:23 left, putting the Golden Hurricane up 28-27.Notre Dame drove down the field behind backup quarterback Tommy Rees, who entered the game in the first quarter when starter Dayne Crist left with a knee injury. Reese hit a 26-yard pass to Michael Floyd that carried to the Tulsa 32 as the Irish (4-5) tried to get in position for a field goal.But on a second-and-8 from the Tulsa 19, Rees lofted a pass toward the corner of the end zone and Flanders picked it off. After the Golden Hurricane (5-3) ran out the clock, their players raced to the end zone to celebrate with their band.Rees threw four TD passes but was also picked off three times.Notre Dame was playing just three days after the death of Declan Sullivan, a 20-year-old student videographer who was filming the team’s practice Wednesday when the lift he was in fell over on a windy day. Both teams wore shamrock decals with the letters DS on their helmets in Sullivan’s memory.Crist was hurt in the first quarter when he was hit out of bounds after a 29-yard run and watched the second half on crutches from the sidelines.Cierre Wood, filling in for injured leading rusher Armando Allen (hip), scored two touchdowns for Notre Dame, one on a lateral from T.J. Jones after a pass.Tulsa used its speed and quickness to stay close in the flag-filled game, scoring on a 66-yard interception return right before the half by Shawn Jackson and a 59-yard punt return by Damaris Johnson in the third. The Golden Hurricane also overcame 12 penalties.

CHAMPAIGN—Nathan Scheelhaase won a matchup of freshmen quarterbacks, rushing for 118 yards and throwing for 195 and four touchdowns Saturday to lead Illinois past Purdue, 44-10.Purdue quarterback Sean Robinson was 7-20 for 52 yards and a touchdown. The Boilermakers struggled in a chilly wind and had just 64 yards at halftime.Illinois (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) led 14-0 before Purdue had run its fifth play and was ahead 30-0 midway through the third quarter.Scheelhaase was 16-20 passing with touchdowns to A.J. Jenkins, Mikel Leshoure, Darius Millines and Chris James.Purdue (4-4, 2-2) quarterback Rob Henry, another freshman, started but didn’t throw a pass. He played with a lacerated forefinger suffered a week earlier.