CHAMPAIGN—Demetri McCamey scored 18 and Illinois held off a late Michigan charge for a 54-52 win Wednesday.Bill Cole hit a free throw with 14 seconds to play to give Illinois the two-point edge. The Wolverines then missed a pair of shots at the other end, the last a desperation one-handed heave by Stu Douglass that hit the rim at the buzzer.The win keeps Illini (17-9, 7-6 Big Ten) hopes for an NCAA tournament spot alive. For Michigan (16-11, 6-8), the loss ended a three-game winning streak that had the Wolverines thinking March Madness might be in reach for them, too.Mike Tisdale added 12 for Illinois, which led 32-22 at halftime.Jordan Morgan led Michigan with 12 points. Darius Morris had 11 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 10.

Courtney Stanley’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Loyola a 67-66 overtime victory over UIC Wednesday night.Dipanjot Singh had given the Flames a 66-64 lead with 6 seconds remaining before Terrance Hill passed to Stanley for the game-winner.Hill made a pair of free throws with 5 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 59. Neither team led by more than two points in the extra period. Geoff McCammon made a 3-pointer to put Loyola in front 62-61, but Paris Carter’s dunk restored UIC’s lead.McCammon scored 23 points, including 5-of-5 3-point shooting, to lead the Ramblers (15-12, 6-10 Horizon League). Hill had 16 points and Stanley scored 13.Paul Carter had 19 points for the Flames (7-21, 2-14) and Paris Carter had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Luol Deng scored 24 points, Derrick Rose had 18 points and 13 assists after a slow start, and the Bulls beat the pesky Charlotte Bobcats 106-94 on Tuesday night for their ninth win in 11 games.In a game of momentum swings, the Bulls needed a strong finish to pull this one out and put away a team that blew out the Lakers the previous night. The Bulls opened the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run to take control on a night when Bobcats owner Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen sat next to each other at courtside.Deng hit 10 of 19 shots. Rose, who outscored Deron Williams and Chris Paul by a combined 52-26 in wins at Utah and New Orleans, shot just 5 of 14 but came up big down the stretch.Gerald Henderson led Charlotte with 22 points. Stephen Jackson added 20, Boris Diaw added 18, but the Bobcats came up short trying to take down their second division leader in as many nights. Even so, that probably won’t stop them from removing the interim tag from coach Paul Silas’ title. General manager Rod Higgins told the Associated Press they’re discussing a one-year extension, and the way this team’s playing, it’s not hard to see why.The Bobcats are 15-13 under Silas and have made a Jordan-like jump back into playoff contention after a 9-19 start under Larry Brown.They just couldn’t pull this one out after beating the Bulls twice last month.With a 78-73 lead, Taj Gibson hit two free throws to start the fourth quarter and Rose added two more after a dunk by Henderson. A dunk by Gibson, a driving finger-roll layup by Deng and a basket by Omer Asik made it 88-75 with 8:16 remaining, and the Bulls stayed in control from there.For much of the night, though, the teams battled back and forth.The Bulls saw an 11-point lead in the second quarter disintegrate into a 43-42 deficit before they scored 10 of 12 to close out the half and go up 52-45.In the third quarter, it was more of the same.The Bobcats tied it at 57 on a layup by Gerald Wallace.Rose finally got going after scoring five in the first half, starting a 10-2 run with a neat up-and-under layup for a three-point play and freezing Shaun Livingston with a crossover on a drive. He also hit two free throws before Keith Bogans nailed a 3 to make it 69-59 with 3:50 left, but the Bobcats kept coming back.They scored seven straight late in the quarter to pull within 76-73 before Deng nailed a 15-footer with 3 seconds left.

NOTES—The Bulls wore their red road uniforms for Valentines Day-albeit one day late……Kurt Thomas became the 96th player to appear in 1,000 games. … Charlotte’s D.J. Augustin, bothered by a sprained left wrist, finished with four points in 15 minutes. The Bobcats don’t play again until Feb. 22, and Silas believes the time off will help him. “He was working so hard and going so hard that he kind of hit a wall,” Silas said. “Now, with the rest, I think coming back he’s going to be straight ahead again.” … Eduardo Najera, bothered by a groin problem, did not play….New Bears Hall of Famer Richard Dent was in the crowd.

CHAMPAIGN—For one half Sunday, Purdue’s shooting was brutal.Airballs fell silently short. Balls that did find the rim clanked harmlessly off.The shooting was so bad — 28.6 percent — that after one errant miss by JaJuan Johnson, Purdue coach Matt Painter eyed his leading scorer with exasperation as Johnson ran back upcourt, the coach’s arms stretched wide and his hands raised as if to say, “What was that?” But the No. 14 Boilermakers said their coach made just one calm request after the first half: Come out hard in the second. They did, blasting the Illini with 54 second-half points, outrebounding them 28-9 over that stretch and locking up a comeback 81-70 win.The Illini (16-9, 6-6 Big Ten) led or were tied for all but 1:17 of the first half and went to the locker room up 32-27. But they knew, coach Bruce Weber said, that a storm was coming.The result keeps the Boilermakers (20-5, 9-3) two games back and within reach of first-place Ohio State. The Illini, meanwhile, drop back to the middle of the Big Ten pack, and — just three days after a big road win at Minnesota — were left pointing fingers over who was to blame.The Boilermakers started their second-half push with a 10-4 run that gave them just their second lead of the afternoon. And they made it stick.E’Twaun Moore, who finished with 20 points, hit a 3-pointer with 16:05 to play that put Purdue up 37-36.Mike Davis made a pair of free throws with 12:48 left to cut Purdue’s lead to 45-44. But Terone Johnson hit a 3-pointer 23 seconds later, and Ryne Smith followed that with a layup that made the score 50-44.A minute later, with Illinois back to within 50-46, Smith and point guard Lewis Jackson combined for what might have been the offensive play of the game, and one that took the life out of the Illini crowd.Jackson dribbled across the lane and spotted Smith open near the top of the key. Smith hit a 3-pointer for a 53-46 lead. Illinois was led by Brandon Paul’s 23 points. D.J. Richardson finished with 13. Demetri McCamey returned to the starting lineup after playing off the bench against Minnesota, but finished with just 4 points, 10.8 below his average.

STATE COLLEGE—Talor Battle scored 19 points to pass 2,000 for his career and Penn State overwhelmed poor-shooting Northwestern in a decisive second-half run for a 65-41 win Sunday.Tim Frazier had 12 points and Jeff Brooks scored 14 in his first start since dislocating his right shoulder nearly two weeks ago to help the Nittany Lions (13-11, 6-7 Big Ten) snap a three-game losing streak.JerShon Cobb had 10 points to lead Northwestern (14-10, 4-9), which started 0 for 15 from 3-point territory before Cobb hit from long range with 9:35 left.But the game was all but decided by then with the Nittany Lions leading by as much as 25 after opening the second half with a 21-7 run.Battle joined Wisconsin’s Alando Tucker as the Big Ten’s only 2,000-point scorers in the past decade. The Penn State guard shot 7 of 9 from the field, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range.After a sluggish start against the Wildcats’ Princeton offense, Penn State settled down defensively and held Northwestern to just 15 points before halftime, the lowest scoring first half for a Penn State opponent all year.From there it only got worse for NU.Battle, a senior playing in his third-to-last regular-season home game of his stellar career, hit a wide-open 3 from about 28 feet for a 38-18 lead with 15 minutes left.Mike Capocci then missed a 3 that was rebounded by David Jackson. The ball eventually ended up in the hands – again – of Battle on the break who pulled up at the left wing for a 3 over the outstetched arm of Capocci for a 23-point lead.It was a painfully familiar sequence for Northwestern, which finished 18-of-52 shooting (34 percent), but 2 of 21 from 3-point range (9 percent). The Wildcats entered the day third in the league in 3-point shooting percentage at 38 percent.Penn State also outrebounded Northwestern 33-21.The game was tight for the first nine-plus minutes with the Wildcats finding holes to the lane for easy buckets. John Shurna’s short jumper with 12:12 left gave Northwestern its last lead of the afternoon, 13-12.Penn State raced away from there, with Brooks hitting a jumper in the paint and Battle following up a missed 3 by Cammeron Woodyard for a layup to give the Nittany Lions the lead for good, 16-13 with 10:02 left.Shurna was held to seven points, more than 10 below his season average.

GLENDALE—Ilya Bryzgalov had a unique tactic on Patrick Kane’s breakaway late in overtime: he closed his eyes and Kane him in the chest.In the shootout, he didn’t seem to need his eyes or his chest.Bryzgalov stopped Kane on the overtime breakaway and only needed one save in the shootout when the Hawks missed the goal on its final two chances, lifting the Phoenix Coyotes to a 4-3 win over the Blackhawks on Saturday night.OK, so maybe it wasn’t that simplistic. Bryzgalov has, after all, been known to use the close-my-eyes line whenever he stops a breakaway.Still, it was a big save, one that gave the Coyotes a chance to win their fourth straight in the shootout after blowing a two-goal lead at home.Playing in front of the first sellout at Jobing.com Arena since the home opener, the Coyotes withstood a furious opening flurry by the Hawks and were up 2-0 early in the second period on Radim Vrbata’s fourth goal in three games and Taylor Pyatt’s 15th of the season.The Blackhawks resumed their pressure, though, getting a power play goal from Troy Brouwer in the second period and another by Duncan Keith with 4 minutes left in regulation to send the game to overtime.But the Hawks staggered to the finish after Kane’s breakaway missed.Bryzgalov opened the shootout with a pad save on Toews and Vrbata scored on his chance by flipping it in with his backhand after faking forehand.Phoenix didn’t score on its other two chances, but didn’t need to.

NEW ORLEANS—Derrick Rose’s latest matchup against one of the NBA’s top point guards left the New Orleans Arena crowd gasping at the Allstar’s array of spinning dribbles, slashing drives and running jump shots.Rose scored 23 points while holding Western Conference All-Star starter Chris Paul in check, and the Bulls turned a 12-point third-quarter deficit into a 97-88 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday night. Carlos Boozer added 17 points.Rose’s dominant performance in New Orleans came one game after he scored 29 points — while matched up against Derron Williams — in the Bulls’ victory in Utah on Wednesday night.Paul came in averaging 16.5 points and 9.7 assists and had 15 points on 3 of 10 shooting and six assists against the Bulls.Rose downplayed his role in the victory and said his success against Paul stemmed from the team’s defensive scheme.Luol Deng had 14 points for the Bulls, who outscored the Hornets 25-14 in the fourth quarter to close out a five-game road trip at 3-2.Marcus Thornton had a season-high 24 points and David West added 17 for New Orleans, which missed 13 of 39 free throws in losing for the seventh time in nine games.The Bulls took the lead for good when C.J. Watson’s transition 3, set up by Ronnie Brewer’s block of Thornton’s fast-break layup attempt on the other end, ignited a 9-0 run.Watson also turned a steal into a fast-break layup during the surge, which put the Bulls ahead 89-80 with 5 minutes to go. New Orleans responded with two quick baskets, but Rose set up Boozer’s inside basket with a bounce pass into the paint, then made a difficult, off-balance baseline jumper to make it 93-84 with 2:27 left.That shot drained the life out of the crowd, which began to file out soon after, and the Hornets could not recover.Keith Bogans had 11 points for the Bulls, who shot 51.5 percent (35 of 68) and outscored New Orleans 36-20 inside. Kurt Thomas and reserve Omer Asik each grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who outrebounded New Orleans 47-26. The Bulls also made 21 of 22 free throws. New Orleans, which shot only 40.6 (28 of 69) for the game, led by 12 when Paul baited Rose into a shooting foul behind the 3-point arc and made all three free throws to put the Hornets up 61-49 early in third quarter. Shortly after, however, Thomas’ short baseline jumper started a 12-1 run highlighted by Bogans’ third 3 of the game and another by Rose that made it 64-63.Thornton checked back in and hit a 3, and the Hornets began to control the tempo again. They were unable to pull away, however, because they missed eight free throws in the third quarter alone and led only 74-72 heading into the final period.The Bulls finally pulled back into a 76-all tie when Rose intercepted David Andersen’s pass and finished a fast break with a full-speed, spinning dribble past Thornton for a layup.Most of the first half was close until Thornton entered in the second quarter, when he scored 14 of his points. He drained back-to-back 3s on the heels of a long-range shot by Paul during an 11-0 run that West capped with a tough turnaround, putting New Orleans ahead 53-42 at halftime.

NOTES—The Bulls only missed free throw came on an airball by Brewer late in the third quarter……Joakim Noah missed his 28th game as he recovers from surgery to repair a tendon in his right hand……The loss was only New Orleans’ second in 13 home games against the Eastern Conference……The Hornets had only two offensive rebounds, tying a franchise all-time low.

DALLAS—All those practice shootouts against former goalie Marty Turco paid off for the Dallas Stars. Brenden Morrow, Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro converted in the shootout against Turco, and the Stars rallied from a three-goal first-period deficit for a 4-3 victory over the Blackhawks on Friday night.All three Dallas shooters beat Turco on wrist shots to the stick side and the Stars ended their season-worst four-game winless streak (0-3-1).Jonathan Toews beat Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen in the first round to match Morrow. Richards scored in the second round, and Patrick Sharp missed the net in his second-round bid.Ribeiro was mobbed by teammates after his third-round goal clinched the extra point.Coach Marc Crawford chose Morrow as his leadoff man despite the fact that Morrow hadn’t had a shootout attempt this season.Morrow is a close friend of Turco, and they competed against each other in practice during their nine seasons as teammates.Joel Quenneville gave Turco the start on the front end of a back-to-back. Crawford is expected to get the call Saturday night at Phoenix.Morrow notched the tying goal 47 seconds into the final period when he batted the puck out of the air and past Turco. Morrow appeared to score with a high stick, but after a video review, the goal stood. One time Hawk Stephane Robidas and Richards scored second-period goals for the Stars, who had been 1-5-1 in their previous seven. Turco made 32 saves in his first game against his former team, and teammate Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists.Kane triggered his team’s three-goal first-period flurry as the Blackhawks scored on three of their first five shots against Lehtonen.Brent Seabrook and Sharp also scored, and Toews added two assists for the defending Stanley Cup champions, 2-5-0 in their last seven.Kane intercepted an up-the-middle breakout pass by Dallas defensemen Nicklas Grossman and beat Lehtonen from the slot at 3:39 of the first period.It took only 21 seconds before Seabrook’s goal from almost the same spot as Kane’s tally made it 2-0. The Hawks bumped their lead to 3-0 at 12:56 of the first period when Sharp converted Toews’ centering pass on the power play for his team-high 28th goal of the season.The Hawks nearly made it 4-0 during a 5-on-3 advantage with less than five minutes remaining in the first period. Seabrook shot from the right circle, Lehtonen made a flashy glove save near the goal line, and a video review proved inconclusive as to whether the puck crossed the line.Turco had a stress-free first period, having to make five easy saves, but the Stars stepped up the pressure with a 17-shot second period to grab the momentum.Robidas got Dallas on the board at 15:59 of the second, and Richards’ power-play goal with 4.2 seconds left in the second made it a one-goal game.Blackhawks right wing Fernando Pisani left the game with a head injury and did not return. With 14:31 left in the second period, Pisani was knocked into the Dallas bench on a hard check by Dallas defenseman Mark Fistric. Pisani’s head struck the edge of the bench and he was down for several minutes before being helped to the locker room.Fistric received a double-minor for roughing and interference.The Blackhawks also announced in the third period that center Ryan Johnson and left wing Viktor Stalberg would miss the rest of the game with upper-body injuries.Quenneville said all three are day-to-day and will be evaluated on Saturday.

NOTES—The Stars ran a brief tribute to Turco on the main scoreboard during a break in the first period. A large portion of the crowd stood and applauded Turco…..The Stars are without ex Hawk Adam Burish (broken orbital bone), RW Krys Barch (scratched cornea and fractured orbital bone), RW Ray Sawada (separated shoulder and broken nose), C Jamie Benn (shoulder) and C Toby Petersen (leg)…..RW Michael Frolik made his debut for the Blackhawks after being acquired in a trade with Florida on Wednesday…..Marian Hossa missed the game with the flu.

MINNEAPOLIS—Mike Davis had 17 points and nine rebounds and Demetri McCamey scored 17 points in a surprise role off the bench to lead Illinois to a 71-62 victory over Minnesota on Thursday night.D.J. Richardson added 11 points for the Illini (16-8, 6-5 Big Ten), who outscored Minnesota 23-2 off the bench to snap a four-game road losing streak.Trevor Mbakwe had 17 points and 16 rebounds and Ralph Sampson III added 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for the Golden Gophers (16-8, 5-7). Minnesota has lost four straight games, including two at home that have seriously hurt their NCAA tournament resume.Blake Hoffarber had 15 points, but Minnesota’s leading scorer made just 5 of 13 shots and was harassed all night by a determined Illinois defense.As the clock ticked down, a vocal contingent of Illini fans chanted, “This is our house!”

Well,at least one Chicago team beat one from Green Bay,even though it was far significant than a certain football game was at Soldier Field. Robo Kreps hit a driving runner as time expired in overtime, lifting UIC to a 63-61 victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay on Thursday night.Kreps, who had 21 points, came off a screen near the top of the key, drove left and converted an up-and-under move for the game-winner. Paul Carter added 22 points and nine rebounds for the Flames (7-19, 2-12 Horizon), who had lost 12 of their previous 13 games.Alec Brown had 14 points and Jarvis Williams 13 for Green Bay (12-13, 6-7), which had beaten the Flames 74-50 on Jan. 15.The Phoenix forced the overtime period when Rahmon Fletcher scored a layup off an inbounds play with 1 second remaining, tying the game at 56.UIC, which missed all 12 of its 3-point attempts in the previous loss to Green Bay, was 6 for 17 in the rematch Thursday. Green Bay, on the other hand, was just 2 for 16 from beyond the arc and made only 3 of 10 free-throw attempts.