EAST LANSING—Kalin Lucas scored 25 points, lifting Michigan State to a 61-57 win over Illinois on Saturday night.The Spartans (15-11, 7-7 Big Ten) have won two of three after losing five of six to bolster their shot at playing in a 14th straight NCAA tournament.The Fighting Illini (17-10, 7-7) have lost three of five to make it more difficult to earn one of the coveted 68 spots in college basketball’s showcase next month.Michigan State scored nine straight points after the game was tied at 51 to pull away in a closely contested game that had postseason-like intensity.Demetri McCamey had 15 points, Mike Davis scored 15 and Brandon Paul added 12 for Illinois.Lucas didn’t get much help offensively. Keith Appling scored nine points, Durrell Summers had all eight of his points in the first half and Delvon Roe added eight, including a low-post shot that put the Spartans ahead by four with 1 1/2 minutes left.

ROSEMONT—Corey Fisher refused to let this one slip away.The senior guard scored a career-high 34 points, nailing the tying 3-pointer near the end of regulation, and No. 15 Villanova beat DePaul 77-75 in overtime Saturday.Maalik Wayns added 17, Mouphtaou Yarou grabbed 15 rebounds, and the Wildcats escaped with a tough win over the Big East’s last-place team. DePaul had dropped 12 straight overall and 25 in a row against conference opponents before beating Providence on Thursday.Fisher simply carried the Wildcats, converting acrobatic drives and burying shots from the perimeter. He hit 5 of 8 3-pointers, none bigger than the one he nailed with six seconds left in regulation that tied the game at 62.Jeremiah Kelly led DePaul (7-19, 1-13) with 25 points, hitting 7 of 13 3-pointers. Cleveland Melvin scored 16 and Moses Morgan added 15, but the Blue Demons came up just a little short.Villanova (21-6, 9-5) was leading 70-65 when Kelly hit a 3 with 2:41 remaining. It was 74-70 when DePaul’s Brandon Young connected from long range with 27 seconds left.Fisher, whose previous high was 28 at Connecticut in January, buried two free throws with 17 seconds left. After Young missed a 3-pointer, Fisher hit another free throw with 7.2 remaining to make it 77-73.This probably wasn’t what the Wildcats had in mind after an ugly 60-57 win over Seton Hall that came on the heels of two close losses to Rutgers and Pittsburgh.It certainly didn’t help that they were again without Corey Stokes. The team’s second-leading scorer missed his third straight game because of a turf toe injury on his left foot. Coach Jay Wright said he might be ready for Monday’s game against Syracuse. If not, he’ll likely return against St. John’s on Feb. 26.Even so, this figured to be an easier afternoon for Villanova. Instead, it turned into something else.Villanova was leading 55-50 after two free throws by Dominic Cheek with 3:18 left in regulation, but Kelly responded by nailing a wild 3-pointer. Melvin hit 1 of 2 at the foul line before Tony Freeland hit another one to tie it at 55 with 1:17 remaining. isher then raced the other way and got fouled, burying both shots to put Villanova back on top, and he scored again with 38 seconds left after Kelly tied it.The Blue Demons weren’t finished.Cheek turned the ball over, and after a timeout, Kelly struck again, nailing a 3-pointer to give DePaul a 60-59 lead. Morgan added two free throws with 12 seconds left, but Fisher forced OT when he buried his 3-pointer.

Matt Howard scored 19 points Saturday to lead Butler to its sixth straight victory in a 79-52 decision over UIC.Andrew Smith added 16 points for the Bulldogs (20-9, 12-5), percentage points out of second place in the Horizon League. Shawn Vanzant scored 11, and Shelvin Mack had 10 points for his 13th consecutive game in double figures. Mack also had a game-best six assists, and Howard and Smith grabbed nine rebounds apiece.Paul Carter’s 15 points paced the Flames (7-22, 2-15), who shot just 38.2 percent and have lost six of seven. Robo Kreps added 10 points.Smith’s dunk with 6:41 left in the first half put Butler ahead 23-22. The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 40-27 at intermission and were never threatened afterward.Butler, which shot 50 percent (32 of 64), has won 27 of its last 28 games when yielding fewer than 60 points.

Wesley Jenkins and Nick Leon scored 17 points apiece as St. Peter’s held off Loyola 71-67 Saturday in a BracketBusters game.Jenkins hit five 3-pointers and Leon four as the Peacocks (17-11) shot 43.5 percent (10 of 23) from long range in winning for the eighth time in 10 games. Ryan Bacon scored 14 points and Jeron Belin 13.Geoff McCammon scored 20 points and set the single-season 3-point record for the Ramblers (15-13). McCammon made four 3-pointers, giving him 78 and breaking Derek Molis’ record of 75. Terrance Hill scored 15 and Courtney Stanley 10, and Andy Polka had 10 rebounds.The Peacocks held their largest lead at 51-41 with 7:49 to play, and they were up 65-56 with 3:24 left when Loyola rallied.Ben Averkamp and Stanley scored four points each to pull the Ramblers within 65-64 with 1:13 left, but St. Peter’s held on.

Antoine Vermette, Derek MacKenzie and Anton Stralman scored in a span of 5:54 in the second period and the Blue Jackets held on for a 4-3 victory over the Blackhawks on Friday. Matt Calvert added a goal and an assist for Columbus, which improved to 6-1-1 in its last eight, including a franchise-record six straight road victories. The Blue Jackets pulled into a tie with the Hawks for 11th in the standing with 64 points, four points back of the final playoff spot.Patrick Sharp had two goals and assisted on a score by Patrick Kane as the Blackhawks’ top line — along with Jonathan Toews — accounted for all of the offense. Kane and Toews both had two assists.Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville missed his second straight game after being hospitalized on Wednesday morning with gastrointestinal bleeding caused by an ulcer. In a statement, team physician Dr. Michael Terry said the condition was brought on by aspirin, but club officials have not dicussed a possible return date.Assistant coach Mike Haviland was in charge behind bench again on Friday for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who have been plagued by inconsistency and lapses, and are trying to move back into playoff position in the West.

Sharp said: “It’s a huge loss. It’s disappointing. It’s clear the letdown in the second period had us skating uphill at the end.”

Columbus’s Steve Mason made 37 saves, while Corey Crawford had 32.Calvert opened the scoring 5:32 in with a highlight reel goal. After blocking Duncan Keith’s shot from the right point, Calvert raced down the ice with the puck while fighting off Nick Leddy. Calvert capped the effort by sliding in a backhand shot after he had left his feet to make a move. Sharp then scored on consecutive shifts to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead as the Blackhawks began to dominate.Sharp tied it at 1 at 7:32 on a breakaway. He was sent in alone on crisp pass from Kane after Kane picked off Grant Clitsome’s pass in the neutral zone. Sharp then put the Hawks ahead at 10:04 with his 30th goal, rifled in from the slot after he took a behind-the-net feed from Toews. Vermette, MacKenzie and Stralman then scored in the nearly 6-minute stretch to put Columbus ahead 4-2. Vermette’s power-play goal on a rebound midway through the second tied it. MacKenzie made it 3-2 with 7:32 left in the second when he poked in a loose puck that trickled through Crawford’s pads following a save on Calvert.Stralman made it 4-2 just over three minutes later on a screened shot during a power-play for his first goal in more than a year. Kane replied 21 seconds later and cut it to 4-3 after taking a pass from Toews to complete a 2-on-1 break. Stralman took a delay of game penalty with 2:28 left when he shot the puck over the glass, but the Blackhawks were unable to tie it despite a late flurry.

NOTES—Quenneville has been in regular contact with his coaching staff. “I spoke to him this morning,” Haviland said following Friday’s game-day skate. “You know he’s actually going a little stir-crazy there. He was in great spirits.” … Columbus C Derick Brassard missed his first game after suffering an injured left hand Wednesday in a 4-3 shootout loss to Los Angeles. He was placed on IR and is expected to miss two to three weeks. … Blue Jackets D Rostilav Klesla missed his 10th game with a knee injury. … Ryan Johnson and RW Fernando Pisani both sat out with concussions.

Dave Duerson, a four-time Pro Bowl safety who played on Super Bowl winners with the Bears and New York Giants, has died. He was 50. The Bears released a statement Friday saying they were “stunned and saddened” by the news and called Duerson “a great contributor to our team and the Chicago community.Today is a difficult day for all of us who loved Dave. We’ll miss him. Our prayers are with his family.”

Dave Duerson played seven of his 11 NFL season with the Bears, making four straight Pro Bowls from 1985-88. (AP)

Miami-Dade police detective Robert Williams said the body of a Dave Duerson was found Thursday in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. Computer records show that the Duerson who lived at the address was born the same month and year as the player.Investigators have not determined the cause of death. Williams says detectives are awaiting the medical examiner’s report.Duerson’s ex-wife, Alicia Duerson, told NBC Chicago that he “loved and cherished his family” and was “extremely proud” of Notre Dame and the Bears.A native of Muncie, Ind., Duerson was a third-round draft pick by the Bears in 1983 out of Notre Dame and became a key figure on one of the greatest defenses ever assembled.Who can forget the 1985 team mauling opponents while shuffling all the way to the championship with Hall of Famers such as Mike Singletary, Dan Hampton and Richard Dent up front? With Todd Bell sitting out the entire season, Duerson played a big role in the backfield with five interceptions that year and made the first of four straight Pro Bowls.

“He was a great player for us,” coach Mike Ditka told the Associated Press. “He stepped in and did a great job. It’s very sad.”

A year later, he picked off a career-high six passes while setting what was an NFL record for sacks by a defensive back with seven. That mark stood until 2005, when Arizona’s Adrian Wilson had eight.Duerson would go on to win another Super Bowl with the 1990 Giants after being released by the Bears and spent three years with the Cardinals before retiring after 11 seasons.Emery Moorehead, a tight end on the ’85 Bears team, said: “He was a man’s man. Smoked cigars. Just a personable guy. … He had a lot of people that loved him everywhere.”

“Our hearts go out to the Duerson family and to all those who knew Dave,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement. “In addition to being a great football player, Dave represented himself and the University in so many other ways as a team captain, as well as through his work with the Monogram Club and the Board of Trustees. You couldn’t help but be impressed by him when you met Dave Duerson, and I think that was the reaction from anyone who was ever around him.”

Derrick Rose grabbed the microphone and thanked the fans for making him the Bull’s first All-Star starter since Michael Jordan in 1998. Then he went out and showed why they made a wise decision.Rose had a career-high 42 points and the Bulls headed into the break with an impressive 109-99 victory over the NBA-leading San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.Luol Deng had 19 points and Carlos Boozer finished with 15 for the Bulls, who shot 54 percent in its fourth consecutive win. The Bulls improved to 38-16 after winning 41 games last season.Once again hearing “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants, Rose was at his best when San Antonio challenged in the fourth quarter. He had 13 points in the final period, answering Spurs baskets with acrobatic drives and long jumpers.Rose’s long jumper as the shot clock expired with 3:21 left gave the Bulls a 101-90 lead and took the steam out of one San Antonio rally. He also finished with eight assists and five rebounds. “That was some performance,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It was great leadership.” Tony Parker scored 26 points and All-Star Manu Ginobili added 16 for San Antonio, which had won six of seven. Reserve Gary Neal made four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points.The Bulls led 83-75 after three quarters and grabbed control early in the fourth. Ronnie Brewer kickstarted a 11-2 run with a dunk and finished it off with a jumper that made it 94-80 with 8:08 remaining.Tim Duncan had 14 points and nine rebounds hours after Popovich announced he would replace Yao Ming in the Western Conference’s starting lineup for Sunday’s All-Star game in Los Angeles.Duncan enters the break with career-low averages in points and rebounds, but is a key reason why San Antonio leads the NBA with a 46-10 record. The Spurs trailed for much of the night in the finale of their annual rodeo road trip but challenged the Bulls with several bursts. Rose and the Bulls had an answer each time while improving to 25-4 at home in their best start at the United Center since 1997-98 championship team won 25 of its first 27 home games.Duncan hit a running hook and Parker converted a three-point play to help San Antonio pull within two with 4:49 left in the third. But Deng stopped the spurt with a 3-pointer and Boozer had three straight points to make it 79-71.Even with the loss, it was a banner first half for San Antonio, which set several franchise records for fastest starts. The Spurs went 6-3 on their nine-game trip and open the second half with a three-game homestand.Rose slithered through San Antonio’s stout defense for 21 points in the first half, making eight of 12 shots from the field. He scored the Bulls last six points of the second quarter, connecting on a nice runner, a jumper and two free throws to give the Bulls a 58-51 lead at the break.

NOTES—Parker said he dinged his right knee but was fine…..Rose also was selected by the fans to participate in Saturday’s NBA Skills Challenge against Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Washington’s John Wall, Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City and New Orleans point guard Chris Paul…..The Spurs and Bulls split the season series. San Antonio rallied to beat Chicago 103-94 on Nov. 17……Deng was shaken up with 9:40 left but stayed in the game……Jordan celebrated his 48th birthday on Thursday.

PROVIDENCE—Jeremiah Kelly scored a career-high 23 points to help end DePaul’s 24-game losing streak in Big East play with a 79-76 victory over Providence Thursday night.It was the Blue Demons’ first conference victory since they defeated Marquette over a year ago, and their first Big East road victory since they topped Cincinnati on March 6, 2008.Their last road win was at UIC three years ago.Cleveland Melvin scored 20 points for DePaul (7-18, 1-12) and Brandon Young put up 17, including 15 in the second half.The Blue Demons built a 10-point halftime lead as starting Friar forwards Kadeem Batts and Bilal Dixon each had three fouls before the break. Providence (14-12, 3-10) slowly came back though, eventually tying the score at 58.DePaul put together a quick 8-1 spurt to regain control, but the Friars’ Marshon Brooks would not back down. He banked in a shot to bring Providence within four, 69-65, and then converted a three-point play to trim the margin to one at 69-68.The Blue Demons answered with a free throw and a hook shot to go back up four, but Brooks came back with another three-point play and DePaul led 72-71. With 57 seconds left, Kelly hit a 3-pointer to bring the margin back to four, but Vincent Council’s 3-pointer made it a one-point game again.Then the Friars were forced to foul, and Kelly sank both free throws. Brooks followed with a layup, and DePaul’s Jimmy Drew missed his one-and-one free throw. The Friars had the last shot, but turned the ball over.Brooks desperately tried to foul Kelly, resulting in an intentional foul with less than a second left. Kelly made two free throws to cap the scoring.Brooks, the nation’s third-leading scorer, led Providence with 28 points, including 10 of his team’s final 13. Duke Mondy added 17 points and seven rebounds.DePaul shot 75 percent from the free-throw line (15 of 20), while Providence could only manage to go 14 for 24.DePaul hosts Villanova Saturday with an 11am tip off at Allstate Arena.

EVANSTON—Juice Thompson scored 16 points and had nine assists to lead Northwestern to a 73-70 win over Iowa on Thursday night.After freshman Melsahn Basabe had a putback to get Iowa within 69-66, Luka Mirkovic answered for Northwestern (15-10, 5-9 Big Ten) with a 3-pointer to give them a 72-66 lead with 1:46 left.But the Wildcats had to hold on in the final minute. Bryce Cartwright hit a jumper and Jarryd Cole had a tip-in to get the Hawkeyes within 72-70 with 5.2 seconds left. Iowa quickly fouled Thompson, who missed the first of two free throws and made the second. Iowa’s Zach McCabe threw a full-court pass to Cole, who turned the ball over when he tried to kick it out for a 3.Cole scored 17 points and Basabe added 13 for Iowa (10-16, 3-11).

Troy Brouwer’s perfectly placed centering pass went off a Minnesota defenseman for the tiebreaking goal in the third period, helping Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks beat the Wild 3-1 on Wednesday night without ailing coach Joel Quenneville.Quenneville was admitted to a hospital with an undisclosed illness after he started feeling discomfort at home late Tuesday. Team physician Dr. Michael Terry said Wednesday morning Quenneville was in stable condition, and there was no update before the game.Assistant Mike Haviland was in charge with Quenneville away, and the Blackhawks responded with a much-needed victory in their first home game since a 4-2 loss to Minnesota on Jan. 25.Crawford made 33 saves, and Brian Campbell also scored for the Hawks, who had lost six of eight, including its previous two games in shootouts. Jake Dowell added an empty-net goal with 59 seconds left, and Marian Hossa had two assists during a very active night.The Wild and Blackhawks are trying to claw into playoff position in the crowded Western Conference and they played like it during a crisply played game.The Hawks carried a 1-0 lead into the third but Matt Cullen got behind the Blackhawks defense during a power play and beat Crawford 6:59 into the period. Rookie Jared Spurgeon set up Cullen’s 11th goal with a sharp pass.The Blackhawks responded less than a minute later. After Chuck Kobasew was sent off for interference, Brouwer tried to find Hossa in front. The puck appeared to bounce off defenseman Greg Zanon before heading into the net.It was a tough break for Jose Theodore, who kept the Wild in the game with 34 stops.Dave Bolland added three assists for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who are heading into a critical stretch of their season. Six of the Hawks next seven games are against Western Conference teams.Minnesota outshot Chicago 17-10 in the opening period and had two power plays, but the Blackhawks still carried a 1-0 lead into the second. Crawford made nice stops on Mikko Koivu, Antti Miettinen and Cal Clutterbuck. Campbell’s power-play slap shot got past a screened Theodore at 12:59.Minnesota’s streaking penalty killers got more action in the second and responded by helping Theodore shut out the Blackhawks during eight power-play minutes covering three calls. Entering the game, the Wild had killed off 89.7 percent of all penalties since Dec. 31.The Blackhawks also had several even-strength opportunities in the second but couldn’t convert. Hossa had a look at an open net but Cam Barker tied up his stick. Theodore also made pad saves on Hossa and Bryan Bickell.

NOTES—Former Hawk Martin Havlat,now with Minnesota, played in his 600th NHL game. …The Hawks lead the season series 2-1. The final game is Feb. 28 in St.Paul.