HOFFMAN ESTATES—The Chicago Invitational Challenge has returned to the Sears Centre for the 5th annual event after last year’s was held at the UIC Pavilion due to financial problems the building in Hoffman Estates was having last year at this time.Purdue is hoping to succ3eed fellow Big Ten member Norwester as CIC Champs and earned a Saturday night matchup with Richmond(5-1) in the Title game after overcoming a 1-of-13 shooting at the start as E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson led the Boilermakers past Southern Illinois 79-60.Moore finished with 31 points and nine rebounds while and Johnson added 18 as Purdue(5-0) earned a date with Richmond (5-1) in Saturday’s invitational championship game at the Sears Centre.The Salukis(2-3) led 13-7 lead, but saw the Boilers go on a 15-2 run to earn a 36-28 lead by halftime.It was all Purdue in the second half.SIU was topped by Justin Bocut with 18 points, while John Freeman and Carlson Fay had 15 and 10 points.

NOTES—This was just the third meeting between SIU and Purdue,and both team had fan support…..The Salukis will play Wright State for third place…..Illinois,Xavier,and Dayton were the other CIC champs in addition to NU.

LES

DENVER—From almost the same spot on the floor where he missed a last-second shot three weeks ago, Carmelo Anthony swished a game-winning jumper.Anthony’s 23-footer, his second chance in the final moments, sailed over the outstretched hand of Luol Deng and dropped cleanly through the net, giving the Denver Nuggets a 98-97 victory over the short handed Bulls on Friday night.The Nuggets came back for their fifth consecutive win at home after blowing a 19-point, third-quarter lead.Anthony finished with 22 points, including his 14th career game-winner.Nene added 18 points and Ty Lawson had 17.C.J. Watson led the Bulls with 33 points and Deng had 24. Joakim Noah added 17 points and 16 rebounds.Both teams played without their starting point guards. Derrick Rose had a sore neck, apparently from having slept on it wrong the night before. Denver’s Chauncey Billups missed a second consecutive game since spraining his right wrist and breaking his nose in last Saturday’s game against New Jersey.Trailing throughout the game, the Bulls tied it at 82 on a 19-foot jumper by Watson. Kyle Korver drained a 3-pointer with 6:05 remaining to give the visitors their first lead, 85-82.With the Bulls leading 91-88, the Nuggets went back in front 94-91 with 2:10 left on successive driving layups by J.R. Smith, Anthony and Lawson.But Watson answered with three consecutive baskets for the Bulls, banking in a go-ahead jumper and driving in for a twisting layup with 30 seconds remaining to make it 97-94.After Anthony made a pair of free throws to get the Nuggets within one, newly signed Bulls guard John Lucas III was fouled with 12.9 seconds remaining and missed both free throws.Anthony drove the lane and forced up a shot in traffic that missed, but the ball rolled out of bounds off the Bulls and the Nuggets had another chance with 4 seconds remaining.Anthony was thankful for another chance.Anthony got the inbounds pass from Lawson, opting against another drive to the basket and instead pulling up and squaring his shoulders before letting the basketball fly over Deng.Up by 10 at the half, the Nuggets scored 11 of the first 13 points in the third quarter, including two 3-pointers by Lawson, to go in front 59-40 with 9:32 left in the period.But they couldn’t shake the Bulls, who fought back to within a point of the Nuggets four separate times in the final 1:56 of the third, the last time when Korver made a pair of free throws. But Anthony then hit a 20-foot jumper and the Nuggets took a 76-73 lead into the fourth quarter.The Bulls, who went to double-overtime Wednesday before pulling out a win at Phoenix, got off to a sluggish start. The Nuggets opened up a 17-point, first-quarter lead behind Nene, who had 10 points in the period on 5-of-5 shooting.

NOTES—The Bulls announced the signing of Lucas before the game, giving them 14 players on their roster….A slam dunk by Noah late in the second quarter initially was determined to have beaten the shot clock but video review showed it had not and it was nullified….Billups has missed only 12 games since coming to the Nuggets in a trade with Detroit on Nov. 3, 2008…..Arron Afflalo has connected for multiple 3-pointers six times.

ANAHEIM—The Blackhawks used some old-fashioned sharpshooting to break open a tie game against the Anaheim Ducks.Patrick Sharp scored for the fourth time in five games to give the Hawks the lead for good in a three-goal third period that carried the defending Stanley Cup champions to a 4-1 victory Friday. He also set up a short-handed goal by defenseman Duncan Keith that knotted the score in the second period.Sharp has 14 goals in his first 24 games. Last season, he didn’t get his 14th goal until his 41st game.Defenseman Nicklas Hjalmarsson ended a 44-game goal drought, Troy Brouwer also scored, and Corey Crawford made 26 saves against an offense that generated 90 shots on net over the previous two games while losing both.The Hawks held the Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry-Bobby Ryan line to just seven shots on net.Dan Sexton scored on a power play for the Ducks, who have just 10 goals during a six-game losing streak that began Nov. 14 at the United Center with a 3-2 overtime defeat that snapped a six-game winning streak. Right wing Teemu Selanne sat out his second straight game because of a groin injury.The Blackhawks had just finished killing off an Anaheim power play when Ducks defenseman Andy Sutton, playing in just his third game with Anaheim after missing the first 21 games of the season because of a broken right thumb, committed a costly turnover that resulted in the go-ahead goal.The 12-year veteran carried the puck out from behind his own net and attempted a backhanded outlet pass to Nick Bonino — but put it right onto the stick of Sharp, who quickly beat Jonas Hiller high to the glove side.Hjalmarsson beat Hiller to the stick side with a screened shot from the left point with 14:04 remaining for his first goal since March 3. Brouwer added his fourth goal with 10:20 to play, beating Hiller to the glove side with a one-timer from the slot. At that point, Carlyle changed goalies.

LOS ANGELES—Proviso East Alum Shannon Brown matched his season high with 21 points, hitting five 3-pointers against his hometown team, and Kobe Bryant added 20 points in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ fifth straight victory, 98-91 over the Bulls on Tuesday night.Lamar Odom had 21 points and eight rebounds, but the two-time defending NBA champions trailed early in the fourth quarter before making a decisive 17-2 run when Derrick Rose finally slowed down.Rose scored 30 points with a series of his usual daredevil drives to the hoop, but managed just three points for the Bulls in the final period, all on free throws.Los Angeles reserves Brown and Steve Blake led the lengthy run, which included 10 straight points. The Bulls went more than 5 ½ minutes between field goals late in their seventh straight loss to the Lakers.The Bulls got just one field goal and 10 points in the final 8:13, and the Lakers improved to 8-1 at home with their 13th win in 15 games to start the season. Joakim Noah had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls, who dropped to 2-2 on their seven-game road trip while the circus occupies the United Center.USC product Taj Gibson had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Luol Deng scored 11 of his 13 points in the first quarter.The Bulls still has won five of seven while getting off to its best start since coach Phil Jackson roamed the sideline in 1996.Two nights after his historic 10-for-10 performance from the field, Pau Gasol managed just 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, whose height advantage didn’t bother Rose in the slightest.The Lakers struggled all night to keep up with the star guard, who scored 27 points in the first three quarters with nonstop aggressive drives to the hoop.But after the Bulls took the lead early in the fourth quarter, Los Angeles responded with that lengthy run including two 3-pointers by Steve Blake and one apiece from Matt Barnes and Brown, turning an 81-79 deficit into a 96-83 lead with 4:27 left.Brown found his groove early for the Lakers, hitting four 3-pointers in the first half when he wasn’t attacking the rim with aggression. The athletic reserve guard has made a quantum leap forward this season, particularly after honing his steady jumper during the summer after re-signing with the Lakers at less than his probable market value so he could chase a third championship ring.Rose was even better for the Bulls, getting 16 points and seven assists in the first half before scoring 11 more points in the third quarter. The Lakers double-teamed Rose from midcourt onward, yet he still penetrated the paint whenever he wished, causing a ripple of unease in Staples Center.Two of the NBA’s deepest teams are thriving without key players who will make them even deeper. Injured power forward Carlos Boozer watched the game from Bulls bench. The Lakers are hoping Andrew Bynum will return early next month from offseason knee surgery.

NOTES—The Lakers held a moment of silence before the game for Lucas Anthony Tang, the 2-year-old boy who died Sunday night after falling from a third-level luxury suite at Staples Center. … Fans near courtside included Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago mayoral candidate and former White House chief of staff, who sat with his brother, superagent Ari Emanuel, and actor Chris O’Donnell, a fellow Chicago-area native. Denzel Washington also attended the game.

CHAMPAIGN—D.J. Richardson went into halftime Tuesday night with three points and his Illini looking for a way to get past Yale.No. 19 Illinois found it. Richardson scored 13 second-half points and Illinois played smothering defense, holding the Bulldogs to 27 percent shooting in a 73-47 win.Demetri McCamey added 11 for the Illini and Mike Tisdale had 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.Illinois led 30-17 at the half, but needed Richardson’s second-half shooting to put the Bulldogs away. Richardson was 6 for 8 from the field and 3 for 4 from the 3-point line.Yale, coming off a 75-67 upset of Boston College last week, stayed close to Illinois for much of the night.But the key to the Bulldogs win over B.C. was 11 for 17 3-point shooting, including 6 for 9 by Austin Morgan, who had 25 points against the Eagles.Yale couldn’t duplicate that effort on Tuesday.The Bulldogs were 4 for 20 from the 3-point line.Still, Yale closed within 40-31 with 15 minutes to play when Morgan hit a 3-pointer.But the Illini quickly widened the gap over their next three possessions, turning a dunk by Mike Davis and a 3-pointer and a short jumper by D.J. Richardson to a 47-31 lead with 13:41 to play.Yale got no closer.The Illini shot 61 percent in the second half, and tightened their defense over the final 15 minutes. That included holding Yale to five points over a seven-minute span as Illinois stretched the lead to 22 points at 58-36.

Considering that Northwestern beat Iowa last week while Illinois lost to Minnesota, one would think the Wildcats would have been the favorites,but with QB Dan Persa done for the season with a torn Achilles,this was not the same Wildcat team,and the Illini ran all over the NU defense that came out flat. Mikel Leshoure ran for a School marki 330 yards and Illinois never trailed in winning the first and likely last Wrigleyville Classic 48-27.

Illinois won the coin toss and elected to receive,but of course Northwestern did not get to pick which goal to defend. Darius Mikkines returned the kickoff to his 34. Leshoure proceed to run through the Northwestern defense like it was tissue paper. First he got a quick 32 yards around left end to the NU 34. Then he got 28 to the 4,and he scored on the next play to give the Illini a quick 7-0 lead 1:17 into the game.The Wildcats started at their own 30,and Evan Watkins fumbled the ball away when sacked by Martez Wilson on third down, Clay Nurse recovered,giving the Illini the ball at the NU 30.Two big runs by QB Nathan Scheelhaase got the ball,to the 13,and Leshoure ran to the 4 for a first and goal.He followed that up with a three yard pick up to the one and then powered over to make it a rather easy 14-0 lead just 9:54 into the game.A shot kickoff was returned to the Cats 39. The Cats got their initial first down when backup QB Cain Colter ran for it.Watkins returned and hit Sidney Stewart for 13 and a first down to the Illini37,but Adonis Smith then fumbled the ball away on the next play,and Michael Buchanan recovered for the Illini who took over at their own 29.Jason Ford had a wide hole for 16 yards to his 44.Scheelhaase then ran around left end to the 35. The Illini tried some razzle-dazzle but back up QB/WR Eddie McGee’s pass was picked off by Brian Peters who ran it 55 yards into the “Forbidden” East end zone and the Illinois lead was suddenly cut to 14-7.Illinois started their next drive on their 27.NU, still unable to stop Leshoure saw him run for 70 yards to the 3.After a two yard loss, the Illini went Ford for a five yard run and it was 21-1 with 4:52 left in the first quarter.Northwestern got their next possession started at their 28.To make things worse for NU, Watkins threw a third down pass right to Ian Thomas of Illinois who ran it back to the NU 30.A 15 yard personal foul on the Cats allowed the Illini to start at the 15. Scheelhaase got 8 yards to the 7, but then a holding call pushed the ball back to the 17.On third down, Scheelhaase threw a pass to Spencer Wilson who fell down out of bounds,then came back in and caught the ball but there was also a holding on NU,so the play went over and a pass to A.J.Jenkins was stopped at the 11. Derek Dimke was wide right from 28 yards and the score remained 21-7 Illinois. The Wildcats took over at their 20 and Mike Trumpy broke free around the left side and won a foot race with the Illinois secondary,scoring to trim the lead to 21-14 with 1:00 remaining in the lengthy first quarter.Troy Pollard returned the kickoff 28 yards to the Illinois 46. The Cats defense stiffened a bit but Dimke was still able to connect on a 45 yard field goal to make it 24-14 with 11:55 left in the half.The NU offense was ineffective and Brandon Williams became the first in this game to punt, kicking it to the Illini 20,but for the first time,they also had to punt after three downs.Venric Mark,after dropping the kick,picked it up and broke three tackles,ran to the left side and got 48 yards to the Illinois 14.A two yard loss by Trumpy was followed by Colter’s keeper for two, and after a pass out of bounds by Watkins, Stefan Demos kicked a 31 yard field goal,leaving it to 24-17 Illini.Troy Pollard returned the kickoff 18 yards to the Illinois 35.On a third down,Scheelhaase had his long pass picked off by Peters, his second of the game and NU took over at it’s 25.Watkins hit Stewart for 19 to the NU 46.Tony Jones then grabbed a Watkins pass for 32 yards to the Illinois 9.Adonis Smith got seven, to the 2,and Trumpy scored untouched his second TD of the game and after early problems,the Wildcats came all the way back to tie the game 24-24 with 2:53 left in the first half. After an illegal block in the back penalty on the kickoff,the Illini started at their 9.A 39 run by Leshoure got the ball on the NU 40.Scheelhaase was able to move his team to the NU 22 with :05 left and Dimke,after the Wildcats called two timeouts in an effort to ice the kicker, still kicked a 39 yard field goal as time elapsed and the Illini regain the lead at halftime,albeit by just 27-24.Leshoure rushed for 218 yards on 18 carries in the first half for Illinois.

The Wildcats received the second half kickoff and after a touch back,started at their 20 and went nowhere.Williams punted and the Illini started at their 39 and kept it on the ground with Lashoure and Ford to get to the NU 25.On a fourth and one, Leshoure picked up a first down at the 15.Scheelhaase would eventually hit A.J.Jenkins with a ten yard TD pass and the Illini regained a two possession lead 34-24 with 6:50 left in the third quarter.After an exchange of punts, NU got the ball at their 20 with :37 left in the third quarter.A nice scramble by Watkins got the ball to the Illini 29 as the third quarter ended,but he was later sacked and Williams punted into the end zone.LeShoure broke another long one, 62 yards to the NU 8.Scheelhaase then ran to the 2,and Ford put this game on ice with a TD run to make it 41-24. Watkins worked a mostly no huddle drive to the Illini 11 after a nice pass to Tony Jones. But they had to settle for a Demos 25 yard field goal to get to within 41-27 with 7:43 left. They still could not figure out Leshoure who broke the Illinois record with his first carry on the next drive.Robert Holcombe held to old mark of 315 against Minnesota in 1996.Ford added another one yard TD with :36 left.

NOTES—The sold out crowd was 41,058….Illinois is now 2-0 at Wrigley Field as they also beat NU here(29-0)in 1923…..This was Illinois’s first game in Chicago since losing to Washington State at Soldier Field in 1988…..NU’s last game in Chicago was the Pigskin Classic at Soldier Field to open the 1997 season and the Wildcats shutout Oklahoma 23-0……NU closes it’s regular season at Wisconsin next Saturday while Illinois plays at Fresno State…..With both teams Bowl eligible,it would be the first time ever that the Illini and Wildcats BOTH go to a Bowl the same season.

LES

DALLAS — Taj Gibson had 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds before fouling out with under a minute to play, Derrick Rose scored 22 points, and the Bulls rallied from a 12-point, third-quarter deficit to beat the Dallas Mavericks 88-83 on Friday night.Rose went 8 for 17 from the field and handed out six assists as the Bulls won for the fifth time in their last six games.Rose joined Gibson in attack mode even after sustaining a cut on his nose in the final minute of the third quarter when he was fouled by Dirk Nowitzki. Rose remained in the game after getting treatment from a team trainer, scoring eight fourth-quarter points.Joakim Noah contributed 10 points and 17 rebounds, and Kyle Korver had 14 points to help the Bulls end a five-game skid in Dallas.The Bulls held a 59-34 rebounding edge — 20-9 on the offensive glass for a 25-8 advantage in second-chance points — and outscored the Mavericks in the paint, 42-26.Nowitzki scored a season-high 36 points for the Mavericks, but Caron Butler was their only other double-figure scorer with 12.Korver’s corner jumper with 1:59 left put the Bulls ahead to stay at 81-79, and the lead grew to six when Rose made one of two free throws for an 86-80 advantage with 10.1 seconds remaining.Jason Terry‘s 3-pointer with 6.9 seconds left got Dallas within 86-83, but Korver hit two foul shots with 6.0 to play to ice the victory.After trailing by as many as 11 in the first half, Dallas opened the third quarter with a 20-4 run that included six straight points from Butler and two 3-pointers from Nowitzki to go up 55-43 with 5:07 left.But the Bulls closed with a 13-4 spurt over the final 4:26 of the period to narrow the deficit to 59-56 entering the final quarter.Dallas started the night No. 1 in the league in field goal defense, limiting opponents to 42.9 percent shooting. The visitors entered the game 10th in the league in the same category, with opponents hitting 44.6 of their attempts from the floor.Bulls defense got the job done early, with Dallas going 5 for 17 from the field in the first quarter while the Bulls were building a 19-13 lead.The Mavericks matched their worst-scoring quarter of the season, with Nowitzki notching 10 of the 13 points. Dallas was outscored in the paint, 12-0, and outrebounded in the first half, 28-18.The Bulls got 10 points from Rose and was in front at halftime, 39-35, holding the Mavs to a season low for points in any half. Nowitzki’s 16 points and Shawn Marion’s eight kept Dallas close.

NOTES—Carlos Boozer is about two weeks away from making his Bulls debut as he continues his recovery from a broken right hand. Boozer is running and shooting, and is expected to begin practicing next week…..The Bulls are off until Tuesday night when they resume their trip against the Lakers.

CALGARY—Jarome Iginla has been controled by the Blackhawks in the Playoffs,but not on this evening. Iginla doubled his goal total in one night and gave the Calgary Flames a confidence boost just when they needed it most..Captain Iginla scored three times to help the Flames beat the Hawks 7-2 on Friday.Iginla still believes the Flames (8-10) can get back into playoff contention in the Western Conference. Calgary is ahead of only its Alberta rival, the Edmonton Oilers, in the West standings.David Moss had a goal and two assists for the Flames, who had lost eight straight to the Blackhawks, dating to March 16, 2008. Niklas Hagman, Brendan Morrison and Curtis Glencross each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Tanguay set up three goals. Tanguay said this win was especially important for the Flames, who will begin a five-game road trip on Sunday in Detroit.Calgary will play five games in seven days while on the road.Jack Skille and Troy Brouwer scored for the Blackhawks, who dropped to 1-1 on their six-game road trip. Marty Turco stopped 29 shots just two nights after recording an 18-save shutout at Edmonton.The Flames scored seven consecutive goals after Skille opened the scoring at 6:12 of the first period. Skille broke into the Calgary zone on the right side and fired a shot that squeaked under Miikka Kiprusoff’s left arm for his third goal of the season.Hagman scored at 8:52 and the Flames went ahead for good just over three minutes later on a power-play goal by Moss, who shoveled a rebound past Turco. Tanguay took a point shot with Moss providing a screen in front.Kiprusoff, who finished with 31 stops, made a pair of big saves to help the Flames carry a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. He turned aside Patrick Kane’s heavy wrist shot before making a great glove grab on Marian Hossa’s slap shot.Iginla scored twice in the second to make it 4-1. He finished off a nice three-way passing play with linemates Tanguay and Matt Stajan at 10:01 and tipped Tanguay’s shot past a screened Turco during a power play late in the period.With 4:17 left to play, Quenneville brought Turco to the bench and put an extra attacker on the ice. Kiprusoff then made a nice glove save on Kane.With Turco back in the net, Morrison sent a rebound over the fallen goalie. Iginla converted a slap shot to complete the hat trick.

NOTES—Calgary had lost three straight…..Patrick Kane celebrated his 22nd birthday…..The Hawks are at Vancouver Saturday night.